Russian protest leader Alexei Navalny jailed five years
July 18, 2013
Russian protest leader Alexei Navalny has been sentenced to five years in jail for theft and embezzlement. Judge Sergei Blinov said the anti-corruption campaigner had defrauded a timber firm.
Navalny has always insisted the trial was politically motivated, due to his opposition to President Vladimir Putin. Minutes before he was handcuffed and led away, he urged his supporters to continue his struggle, tweeting: “Don’t sit around doing nothing.”