Judge says Navalny's guilt proven by witnesses' testimony
KIROV. July 18 (Interfax) - Judge Sergei Blinov at the Leninsky District Court in Kirov found opposition activist Alexei Navalny and businessman Pyotr Ofitserov guilty of embezzlement of property belonging to the state-run timber company Kirovles based on testimony by former Kirovles Director Vyacheslav Opalev, who had earlier concluded a plea agreement with the prosecution.
"Navalny's guilt has been proven by witnesses' testimony," Blinov said during the sentencing.
Navalny's guilty is evident, among other things, from "Opalev's testimony given in court as a witness as well as his testimony given during the preliminary investigation, which has been fully confirmed," the sentence says.
"In assessing Opalev's testimony he gave both during the preliminary investigation and in court, the court finds it trustworthy, consistent, confirmed by other evidence collected in the case, and admissible, as it has been obtained in line with the law," Judge Blinov said.
The court found Navalny guilty of organizing large-scale misappropriation or embezzlement of somebody else's property. Navalny said on Twitter while the sentence was being proclaimed that the judge simply rubber-stamped the indictment drawn up by the prosecution.
About a dozen journalists and participants in demonstrations previously cleared by the local authorities have gathered near the courthouse. Activists from Navalny's staff also arranged a broadcast from the courtroom at the Puppet Theater located nearby, and about 20 people are watching it.
A cafe in front of the courthouse capable of accommodating 90 people is overcrowded, most of the patrons wearing T-shirts with the phrase For Navalny written on them, and all of them are also watching a broadcast from the courtroom on a giant screen.
The cafe stayed open all night, giving shelter to journalists waiting for the court session to start in the morning.
Some police officers have also been deployed near the courthouse.