Fine lifted from Navalny due to procedural violations, probation term not extended - court
MOSCOW. Feb 17 (Interfax) - The Moscow City Court says it has canceled a fine imposed earlier on opposition activist Alexei Navalny in the Yves Rocher case after uncovering procedural violations that a lower court committed in handing down its judgment.
"The fine has been canceled due to procedural violations. I'd like also to point to the fact that the judge didn't extend the term of probation for Alexei Navalny on Tuesday. The information alleging this is untrue," Moscow City Court spokesperson Ulyana Solopova told Interfax.
Following a hearing on Tuesday, the Moscow City Court turned down both an appeal by the defense team for the brothers Alexei and Oleg Navalny, which sought to invalidate the lower court's ruling, and a motion by prosecutors who insisted on a stricter punishment for the defendants, an Interfax correspondent reported from the courthouse.
Moscow's Zamoskvoretsky District Court had found the brothers guilty and gave Alexei a suspended sentence of 3.5 years in prison and Oleg 3.5 years in prison on December 30, 2014.
The Moscow City Court also ruled on Tuesday to cancel a Zamoskvoretsky District Court decision imposing a fine on Alexei Navalny. The rest of the sentence remained unchanged. The court has also lifted a house arrest from Alexei Navalny as a pretrial restrictive measure.
The court ruling has now taken legal effect, which means Oleg Navalny is to be transported to a penitentiary to serve his sentence within the next few weeks.
