Alexei Navalny is wanted by Russian officials for violating the suspension regulations and could face up to 3.5 years in prison if he returns home.

Vadim Kobzev, a lawyer for Alexei Navalny, said on January 14 the activist was placed on a national wanted list after the Russian federal prison authorities accused him of failing to show up at the end of the year.

Navalny and her brother Oleg were sentenced to three and a half years in prison from a case commonly known as the "Yves Roche case" in 2014, when Navalny was found guilty of embezzlement of about $ 500,000 from two Russian companies in 2008-2012.

The Russian Federal Correctional Department last month issued an "ultimatum" requiring Navalny to present himself at the Russian criminal surveillance agency in Moscow on December 29, 2020, otherwise it will be legally responsible and suspended.

Navalny declared the "Yves Roche case" against him "slander" and insisted that he did not appear at the request of the Russian Federal Correctional Office because at that time he was in Germany for treatment.

The Russian prison administration meanwhile said that Navalny was discharged from the hospital last September and should have returned to Moscow immediately to report.

"In theory, they could arrest Navalny as soon as he returned to Russia, but initially detained for only 48 hours," Kobzev said, adding that he predicted a trial of the case would be held on Monday.

The Kremlin, which refers only to Navalny as a "Berlin patient", said actions on Navalny will be determined by the law enforcement involved.

Opposition activist Navalny announced on January 13 that he would return to Russia later this week, after finishing treatment at a German hospital.

Navalny, 44, was seriously ill on a flight from Siberia to Moscow in August and was hospitalized in the Russian city of Omsk before being taken to Berlin, Germany, for treatment.