Daily Times

The brother of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was jailed for 3.5 years in a fraud case supporters say was politically motivated, was freed Friday after serving his sentence.

Oleg Navalny embraced his wife and then his older brother after leaving a prison camp in the village of Naryshkino, in the Oryol region south of Moscow, an AFP photographer at the scene said.

Around 50 supporters and journalists had gathered outside the prison for the release.

The younger Navalny said he was looking forward to going home and eating shashlik, or kebab.

Oleg and Alexei were convicted in a 2014 fraud trial related to their work for French cosmetics company Yves Rocher.

The opposition politician received a three-and-a-half-year suspended sentence while his brother was jailed for the same amount of time in a move activists compared to hostage taking.

Published in Daily Times, June 30^th 2018.