MOSCOW, August 1 (RIA Novosti) – Russian prosecutors have requested that Kremlin opposition figure Alexei Navalny be arrested for leaking information over a current court trial involving the cosmetics company Yves Rocher, his lawyer told RIA Novosti on Friday.
According to Olga Mikhailova, Navalny’s arrest was requested because he had been giving detailed information about court hearings on the apparent theft charges of the company to the media.
On Friday, a district court in Moscow is holding another preliminary hearing of the case against Navalny and his brother Oleg, accused of embezzling more than 26 million rubles ($734,000) from Yves Rocher.
Earlier in April, the court ruled to return the case to prosecutors.
Alexei Navalny is heading the Party of Progress. In 2013 he finished second in the mayoral election in Moscow.
Navalny is already serving a five-year suspended sentence for an embezzlement conviction in a separate case. He denies all the accusations, saying they are politically motivated.
