Prosecutors in the ‘Sanitary Case’ seek one-year suspended sentence for Oleg Navalny

Prosecutors in the so-called “Sanitary Case” have asked for a one-year suspended sentence with a three-year probationary period for Oleg Navalny, MBK Media reported on August 4, citing his lawyer Nikos Paraskevov. 

The brother of jailed opposition politician Alexey Navalny, Oleg Navalny is among nine defendants in the case, who stand accused of inciting violations of pandemic restrictions in connection with a pro-Navalny rally that took place in Moscow on January 23. 

Oleg Navalny has pleaded not guilty. 

State investigators launched the “Sanitary Case” in January 2021. According to the investigation, the defendants in the case called for people to attend the pro-Navalny demonstration, thereby provoking violations of sanitary and epidemiological rules.

On August 3, opposition politician Lyubov Sobol was handed one and a half years of “restrictions on freedom” — a parole-like sentence — in the “Sanitary Case.” The court banned Sobol from leaving her home between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., as well as from attending public gatherings, and traveling outside of Moscow and the Moscow region. Prosecutors had sought two years of restricted freedom for Sobol.