Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses the audience during a forum of pro-Kremlin youth groups at lake Seliger, some 400km (248 miles) north of Moscow, August 2, 2013. Putin said on Friday he was surprised by the five-year jail term a court handed down to Alexei Navalny, his top critic, when another man convicted in the same embezzlement case received only a suspended prison sentence. REUTERS/Michael Klimentyev/RIA Novosti/Kremlin
LAKE SELIGER, Russia (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday he was surprised by the five-year jail term a court handed down to Alexei Navalny, his top critic, when another man convicted in the same embezzlement case received only a suspended prison sentence.
In his first comments on the case since the July 18 verdict, Putin did not make clear if he was suggesting the jail sentence on Navalny was too harsh or the suspended one too lenient.
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