Moscow Court Convicts Navalny of Fraud & Contempt of Court
Russian opposition activist Alexey Navalny has been convicted in a “large-scale” fraud case, and also found guilty of contempt of court. The Western-backed protest leader is already serving a prison term under a separate sentence, related to the French cosmetics brand Yves Rocher.
Navalny pleaded not guilty during the trial, in which It was found that large donations to his anti-corruption and political campaigning organizations were used by him and his co-conspirators to cover personal expenses.
The opposition figure claims he is being persecuted by the Russian government, which, he says, has tried to assassinate him. Moscow denies this, and has accused Navalny of working with hostile foreign governments.
