MOSCOW, April 12 (RAPSI, Lyudmila Klenko) – The Moscow City Court on Tuesday upheld a lower court’s ruling ordering opposition politician Alexei Navalny to pay over 400,000 rubles ($6,000) to Russian senator Dmitry Sablin who claimed to be defamed, RAPSI reports from the courtroom.

Earlier, the Lyublinsky District Court obliged Navalny to refute information posted on his website. The statement said that Sablin had allegedly obtained his property by crime.

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.

Navalny was given a five-year suspended sentence in July 2013 for embezzlement at the Kirovles timber company and has been charged in several other criminal cases.

Navalny was also an organizer of the protests in Moscow in 2011-2012, including a rally in May 2012 that resulted in public unrest and clashes with the police.