Anti-Putin Activist Navalny Faces 10 Years For Embezzlement

Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny faces as much as 10 years in jail after being charged with embezzlement, marking an escalation in President Vladimir Putin’s crackdown on the biggest unrest of his 12-year rule. The Investigative Committee increased the severity of the charges against Navalny, accusing him of defrauding a state timber company of 16 million rubles ($496,000) in the Kirov region, the agency said on its website today. Navalny, 36, an anti-corruption activist who helped organize mass protests against Putin, previously risked a maximum sentence of five years for causing a 1.3 million-ruble loss to the firm. Navalny was barred from leaving Russia by investigators, who said that two more people linked to the case will soon be charged. The accusations are “astonishing,” Navalny said on his blog.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-31/anti-putin-leader-navalny-faces-10-years-on-embezzlement-charges.html