MOSCOW, June 11 (RAPSI) - The state prosecutors have finished presenting evidence to the Leninsky District Court in Kirov against renowned whistleblower Alexei Navalny and Pyotr Ofitserov, who have been charged with embezzling funds from the Kirovles timber company, Prosecutor Yevgeny Cheremisinov told the court on Tuesday.
He also presented documents in response to questions earlier asked by the defense.
The defense lawyers showed papers obtained from the cadastral authorities that the attesting witnesses provided non-existent Moscow addresses.
The prosecutors presented an explanatory note from these individuals stating that they have given the address of their military university barracks, which is not listed on the publicly accessible database.
The prosecutor presented an objection to a request that the defense attorneys made earlier to invalidate some of the evidence in the case. The court rejected the objection.
Now that the prosecutors have finished presenting their written evidence, they would like to proceed with the questioning the defendants, Cheremisinov said.
According to the investigators, Navalny organized the theft of over 10,000 cubic meters of timber while serving as a voluntary adviser to the Kirov Region governor.
The timber was allegedly stolen from Kirovles between May and September 2009 in collusion with Ofitserov, the director of the Vyatka Timber Company, and Kirovles CEO Vyacheslav Opalyov. The regional budget shortfall resulting from the transaction has been estimated at 16 million rubles ($510,906).
If convicted, Navalny and Ofitserov face up to 10 years in prison. They will also be ineligible for any kind of civil service, even if they only receive probation.
Opalyov, who made an agreement with the prosecution, has received a four-year suspended sentence.