KIROV, Russia: A Russian court on Friday released opposition leader Alexei Navalny from custody, less than 24 hours after convicting him of embezzlement and sentencing him to five years in jail.
Navalny was sentenced to five years in jail on embezzlement charges on Thursday. Navalny denied the charges‚ saying the trial was politically motivated.
The court in its ruling on Friday said that keeping Navalny in custody would deprive him of his right to stand in mayoral elections in Moscow on September 8.
The release is to extend until appeals of his conviction are completed.
After the Friday decision, a smiling Navalny emerged from the caged-off defendants’ section of the courtroom and thanked supporters who held protest rallies on Thursday after his conviction.
