MOSCOW, June 29 (RAPSI) – Oleg Navalny on Friday was released from prison after serving his sentence in the Yves Rocher embezzlement case, his brother, Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny, wrote on his Twitter account.

In December 2014, Navalny was given a 3.5-year suspended sentence in the Yves Rocher case. His brother Oleg received a 3.5-year prison term. They were convicted of stealing nearly 30 million rubles (about $500,000 at the current exchange rate) from two companies, including Russian affiliate of Yves Rocher.

In October 2017, the European Court of Human Rights held that there was violation of Article 6 (Right to a fair trial) and Article 7 (No punishment without law) of the European Convention on Human Rights (Convention) in this case.

However, the ECHR refused to recognize criminal prosecution of the Navalny brothers as politically motivated by declaring their complaints “under Article 18 in conjunction with Articles 6 and 7 of the Convention inadmissible”. The court ordered Russia to pay €55,000 to Alexey Navalny in compensation. Oleg Navalny was awarded about €21,000 and 460,000 rubles. Both parties appealed the ECHR ruling. However, in March 2018, the court refused to send the case to the Grand Chamber for review.

The Supreme Court’s Presidium in April upheld the sentence given to the brothers.