Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny's brother, Oleg, who was sentenced to three years and six months on Tuesday for fraud in relation to the Russian subsidiary of the French cosmetics company Yves Rocher, will be placed in a Moscow remand center pending a hearing into his appeal, a law enforcement agency source told Interfax.
"Oleg Navalny will be held in a remand facility until his conviction is appealed. His further custodial stay will depend on a judge's decision on his appeal," the source said.
On Tuesday, Moscow's Zamoskvoretsky Court convicted Oleg Navalny of money laundering and stealing funds from Yves Rocher's Russian subsidiary and the Multiprofile Processing Company and sentenced him to three years and six months in prison.
Alexei Navalny, who was given a suspended sentence in this case, said he was outraged at his brother's conviction.
The opposition activist believes that the actual prison term handed down to his brother, who was taken into custody from the courtroom, comes as an additional punishment to him personally.
"Why are you putting him behind bars? Do you want to punish me in such a way?" Alexei Navalny told the judge after his brother's sentence was announced.
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