Russia's Supreme Court sends Navalny's case for retrial

FILE - In this file photo taken on Wednesday, July 29, 2015, Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny smiles before a broadcast at the Echo Moskvy (Echo of Moscow) radio station in Moscow. Russia's Supreme Court has sent a criminal case of the opposition leader for retrial following a ruling of the European Court of Human Rights. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, FILE) (The Associated Press)

MOSCOW – Russia's Supreme Court has sent the case of an opposition leader for retrial following a ruling of the European Court of Human Rights.

Alexei Navalny, a leading foe of President Vladimir Putin, was convicted of embezzlement in 2013 in a trial he called politically motivated.

The Strasbourg-based court ruled in February that Russia violated Navalny's right to a fair trial, and has ordered the government to pay him legal costs and damages.

Russia's Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered Navalny's case to be retried in the same provincial city, Kirov, where the 2013 hearings took place.

Navalny told Russian news agencies that the case should have been dismissed and that a retrial in Kirov means constant travel there will impede his political activities.