MOSCOW, October 24 (RAPSI, Lyudmila Klenko) – The Presidium of Russia’s Supreme Court will review Kirovles embezzlement case against opposition politician Alexei Navalny and his accomplice Pyotr Ofitserov taking into account ECHR’s ruling, announcement on the official website of the court reads on Monday.
On February 23, ECHR published a ruling regarding Kirovles embezzlement case, claiming that Navalny’s and Ofitserov’s rights on a fair trial were violated. However, ECHR did not find a political motive in this case.
ECHR ruled to compensate Navalny with 48,000 euro of legal costs and Ofitserov with 22,000 euro. Additionally Russia is to pay 8,000 euro each in damages.
Russia’s Ministry of Justice has appealed ECHR’s ruling but this appeal has been dismissed.
Navalny was given a five-year suspended sentence in July 2013 for embezzlement at the Kirovles timber company. In May, Moscow's Lyublinsky District Court increased a probation period for him to 5.5 years in the case. Ofitserov has received a four-year suspended sentence.
According to investigators, while serving on a voluntary basis as an adviser to the Kirov Region governor, Navalny allegedly organized the theft of over 10,000 cubic meters of timber from Kirovles between May and September 2009. He presumably acted in collusion with Vyatka Timber Company Director Pyotr Ofitserov and Kirovles CEO Vyacheslav Opalyov.