Russia orders probe of opposition leader Navalny

MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia's chief investigator has lashed out at his subordinate for closing a probe against a prominent opposition leader and ordered a review of the case.

Russia's Investigative Committee ran a probe into opposition leader Alexei Navalny's alleged embezzlement of a state-owned timber company in the Kirov region from 2011 to May this year.

The head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, chided the chief investigator for Kirov on Thursday for closing the probe without informing Moscow bosses, Russian news agencies reported. Bastrykin ordered the probe to be reviewed in Moscow.

Investigators looked into reports that Navalny, while an aide to the Kirov region's governor in 2007, could have pushed through decisions at the KirovLes company that caused it 1 million rubles ($30,800) in damages. Navalny dismissed the accusations as ridiculous.

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