Russia's Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal filed by jailed opposition politician Aleksei Navalny against a court decision to change a suspended prison term he was handed several years ago into a real prison time last year after he returned to Moscow from Germany where he was treated for poisoning with a nerve agent.
The Supreme Court also refused on March 30 to look into Navalny's appeal against his immediate arrest upon his returning to Russia from Germany in January last year.
Navalny, an outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin, and his brother Oleg were convicted in October 2017 of stealing about $500,000 from two Russian firms, one of which was affiliated with French cosmetics company Yves Rocher, between 2008 and 2012, and of laundering some of the money.
Both were sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison, but Navalny's sentence was suspended.
The brothers denied the charges, saying the case was politically motivated -- in part as an effort to deter Aleksei from his opposition activities by turning his brother into a "hostage" held behind bars.
Navalny was in a coma and medically evacuated from the city of Omsk to Germany after being poisoned in January 2021. He was immediately arrested at the airport when he flew back and within weeks his sentence was changed to prison time as the court ruled he violated the terms of the suspended sentence by leaving the country.
Navalny has blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for the poison attack with a Novichok-style chemical substance. The Kremlin has denied any role in the poisoning, which along with Navalny's arrest has sparked widespread condemnation and sanctions from the West.
Last week, a court sentenced Navalny to nine years in prison after finding him guilty of embezzlement and contempt charges that he and his supporters also rejected as politically motivated.
