Prosecutor's office appeals Navalny's verdict

The prosecutor's office of the Kirov region filed an appeal on the verdict of opposition leader Alexei Navalny and Peter Ofitserov in order to change the measure of restraint for their detention, RIA Novosti reports.

"The prosecutor's office believes that until the entry of the verdict comes into action, Navalny should be under house arrest," the press service of the prosecutor's office said. 

As reported earlier, Navalny, a whistle-blowing blogger and one of Russia’s most prominent opposition protest leaders, was sentenced to five years in prison on Thursday on embezzlement charges linked to the 2009 sale of timber by a state-run company at allegedly below-market prices. His co-defendant in the trial, Pyotr Ofitserov, was sentenced to four years in jail.