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Russia's Supreme Court Overturns Verdict in Navalny Case

Opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Associated Press

Russia's Supreme Court has overturned opposition activist Alexei Navalny's sentence for embezzlement in the so-called KirovLes case, the TASS news agency reported

The Supreme Court's presidium decided to reopen the case after the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Navalny's trial was unfair. 

Although the case is set to be retried, the Supreme Court's decision allows Navalny to once again run for public office. 

In 2012, Russia's Investigative Committee charged Alexei Navalny with embezzlement, alleging that he conspired to steal timber from the state-owned KirovLes company in the Kirov region. In 2013, Navalny was handed a five-year suspended sentence after a trial that many considered politically motivated. In February 2016, the ECHR determined that the Russian government had denied Navalny his right to a fair trial.

Read about the ECHR's decision in Navalny's case.

Navalny's case will now return to a lower court in Kirov. 

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