A blogger and activist who demonstrated against President Vladimir Putin was charged on Tuesday and was ordered to stay in Moscow.
Russian officials charged opposition figure Alexei Navalny with embezzlement a week after he criticized the head of the Investigative Committee on his blog, RT reported.
“There is no motive. There is no gain. The stated damages are taken out of nowhere. All most imported testimony against me has appeared to be false. The witness who testified [against] me himself appears to be a member of my criminal syndicate,” he blogged last week, according a translation by RT.
He could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
Officials said earlier this month that Navalny allegedly embezzled around 1 million rubles ($31,000), but later said he stole 16 million rubles ($500,000), Radio Free Europe reported Tuesday.
Navalny has served jail terms for taking part in protests against Putin.
Via Twitter, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said, “We should be concerned with attempts in Russia to silence fierce opposition activist Alexei [Navalny].”
The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 19 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.
