MOSCOW, March 7 (RAPSI) – Basmanny District Court of Moscow next week will review the motion filed by the investigators seeking to shorten the time in which opposition stalwart and anti-corruption crusader Alexei Navalny can review his case materials, the court told RAPSI on Friday.
Navalny and his brother Oleg stand accused in a fraud case involving cosmetics company Yves Rocher Vostok. Investigators allege that the Navalny brothers embezzled upwards of 26 million rubles (over $718,536) from the cosmetics company, as well as upwards of 4 million rubles (over $110,000) from the Multidisciplinary Processing Company by way of a fraud scheme. The brothers were further charged with having laundered 21 million rubles.
On February 28, Moscow's Basmanny District Court ruled to place Navalny under house arrest until April 28. The investigators told the court that Navalny has repeatedly violated the conditions of his probation.
He is now prohibited from using any communication devices, as well as the internet. This will effectively halt Navalny's anti-corruption campaign, as it is operated and promoted through his popular LiveJournal blog and Facebook page.