Russian court turns down prosecutors' request to imprison opposition leader Navalny

Russian opposition activist and blogger Alexei Navalny sits in a courtroom before the hearing in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, May 13, 2015, to consider the sentence after being convicted in December 2014 of fraud and given a three-and-a-half-year suspended sentence. The Moscow court has turned down the prosecutors’ request to turn the suspended sentence for opposition leader Alexei Navalny into prison term. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin) (The Associated Press)

Russian opposition activist and blogger Alexei Navalny, front, sits in a courtroom before the hearing in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, May 13, 2015, to consider the sentence after being convicted in December 2014 of fraud and given a three-and-a-half-year suspended sentence. The Moscow court has turned down the prosecutors’ request to turn the suspended sentence for opposition leader Alexei Navalny into a prison term. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin) (The Associated Press)

MOSCOW – A Moscow court has turned down the prosecutors' request to turn a suspended sentence for opposition leader Alexei Navalny into prison time.

Navalny was convicted in December of fraud and given a three-and-a-half-year suspended sentence. His brother was sent to prison on charges of defrauding a French cosmetics company in a verdict seen as a vendetta by the Kremlin.

Prosecutors have appealed to convert Navalny's suspended sentence into a prison term, citing his recent misdemeanors such as Navalny's 15-day arrest for campaigning on the subway for an unauthorized rally.

Navalny, a leading foe of President Vladimir Putin who spearheaded the 2011-2012 mass protests in Moscow, rejected the official accusations and argued that they have no basis in Russian law. The district court on Wednesday rejected the prosecutors' demand.