MOSCOW, January 19 (RAPSI) – The Moscow City Court refused to extend a probation term for opposition politician Alexei Navalny in the Yves Rocher embezzlement case, RAPSI learnt in the courtroom on Tuesday. 

The court dismissed an appeal by prosecutors who demanded to prolong Navalny’s probation because he came to register at a local penitentiary inspection a day later than he was supposed to. 

Navalny and his brother Oleg were convicted of committing fraud against cosmetics company Yves Rocher Vostok. Investigators alleged that the Navalny brothers embezzled over 26 million rubles (about $400,000 at current exchange rates) from the cosmetics company, as well as close to 4 million rubles ($61,500) from the Multidisciplinary Processing Company through a fraud scheme. The brothers were further charged with laundering 21 million rubles ($322,600).

In December of 2014, Alexei Navalny received a suspended sentence of 3.5 years, while his brother Oleg was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison.

Navalny has also been involved in several other cases, including a case of embezzlement at the Kirovles timber company in which he was given a suspended sentence. He has denied all the charges brought against him.

Alexei Navalny is a Russian political and public figure, leader of the Party of Progress. He finished second in the Moscow mayoral elections in 2013 and is the author of one of the most popular political blogs that was banned for promoting unauthorized public protests.