MOSCOW (Reuters) -A Russian court on Friday converted a suspended sentence against jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s brother into a prison term, RIA news agency reported, after authorities said he had left the country for Cyprus.
The court ruled Oleg Navalny, whom Russia had put on a wanted list, should serve the sentence in a high-security prison, according to RIA.
The Federal Penitentiary Service had sought the jail term for Oleg Navalny for failing to comply with restrictions imposed after he was found guilty of inciting people to break COVID-19 restrictions by taking part in anti-government demonstrations last year.
Interfax news agency cited a court earlier on Friday as saying authorities believed Oleg Navalny had left the country for Cyprus last year and had not returned.
(Reporting by Andrey Ostroukh; writing by Tom Balmforth and Maria Kiselyova; editing by Mark Trevelyan)