MOSCOW, July 18 (RIA Novosti) – A Russian court is convening Thursday morning to announce a verdict that will decide the political career of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is running for mayor of Moscow.
The court, in the city of Kirov, about 900 kilometers (560 miles) east of Moscow, is to decide whether Navalny is guilty of organizing the embezzlement of $500,000 worth of lumber from state-owned company KirovLes.
Navalny, a whistle-blowing blogger well-known for leading mass protests against Russian President Vladimir Putin, has denounced the charges against him as politically motivated.
Prosecutors earlier this month requested that Navaly get six years in prison and a fine of 1 million rubles ($30,000). If convicted, Navalny would not be able to run for public office.
“I understand that it will be a guilty verdict,” Navalny told Ekho Moskvy (Echo of Moscow) radio last week in an interview. He said that for him the only question that remained was whether he would be sentenced to time in prison.
A co-defendant in the trial is Pyotr Ofitserov, a former colleague of Navalny who ran the Vyatka Timber Company. For Ofitserov, a suspected accomplice in the embezzlement, prosecutors are seeking a five-year prison sentence and a 1 million ruble fine.
Both defendants have pleaded not guilty. Navalny’s supporters have pledged to hold a demonstration in downtown Moscow on Thursday evening.
