MOSCOW, August 24 (RAPSI) – A justice of peace on Monday suspended hearing of a case against Alexey Navalny over his statements about veteran of the Great Patriotic War Ignat Artemenko because of the defendant’s illness, the spokesperson of Moscow’s Babushkinsky District Court Alexandra Savelyeva told RAPSI.

Last week, a plane departed from Tomsk to Moscow with Navalny onboard urgently landed in Omsk after the blogger became heartily sick. He was taken to a hospital in coma. Later, he was transported to Berlin. Russian medics said no poison was found in the blogger’s body.

In early June, Russia Today TV channel published a video where the 93-year Artemenko and other respondents were reading the Constitution preamble. Following that, Navalny released a video with comments on his social networks insulting the veteran.

Navalny was charged with slander. If convicted he could face up to 200 hours of community service. Navalny pleads not guilty.