A Moscow court has jailed Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny for three-and-a-half years for violating the conditions of a suspended sentence.
Navalny’s suspended sentence in the Yves Rocher embezzlement case has been converted to 3 years and 6 months behind bars, TASS reports from the courtroom.
Navalny has been accused of breaking the terms of a 2014 suspended sentence for embezzlement that required him to report regularly to Russian police.
Navalny will serve his time in medium-security prison. According to preliminary reports, the opposition figure will be behind bars for two and a half years, taking into account one year he was placed under house arrest during the preliminary investigation in the Yves Rocher case.
The court ruling notes that the Navalny defense team’s position that he did not conceal his whereabouts from the Federal Penitentiary Service agencies and was getting treatment in Germany is dismissed because he had repeatedly violated his probation terms even before the hospitalization.
Thousands of supporters have rallied across Russia in support of Mr Navalny.
