Russian Officials Request Jail Term for Navalny

July 11, 2017

Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) has requested opposition leader Alexei Navalny be imprisoned, instead of serving out a suspended sentence, Moscow’s district court announced Tuesday.

Moscow’s Simonovksy court received FSIN's request on Tuesday, court spokesman Viktor Vasiliev told RIA Novosti news agency.

Navalny was handed a five-year suspended sentence for fraud in 2013. Prison officials have petitioned courts unsuccessfully twice before to cancel the sentence.

FSIN’s request cites an article in the Criminal Code which allows a suspended sentence to be replaced if a defendant violates public order more than twice within one year.

FSIN says a series of anti-corruption protests organized by Navalny constitutes a violation of the code.

Navalny was detained for 25 days for organizing anti-corruption rallies in Moscow on Russia Day, June 12. Investigators have recently carried out searches of Navalny’s offices in several cities.

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