Alexei Navalny sentenced to over 2 years in prison by Russian court

Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny has been sentenced to over two years in prison on Tuesday by a court that said he violated 2014 suspended sentence while in Germany for treatment. Navalny was arrested soon after returning from Germany on January 17, which prompted widespre protests across Russia demanding his release. A Russian court on Tuesday ruled against Navalny and prounced that he serve remaining months of his suspended sentence in prison. 

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Protesters gared again in streets of Moscow on Tuesday to protest against sentencing, following which over 1,000 people were detained by law enforcement authorities. This comes after police detained over 4,000 people in connection to protests in Moscow on Sunday, which saw thousands of people gar to oppose Navalny's detention. On January 23, similar protests took place across Russia, which saw over 3,500 people being detained by police. 

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In 2014, Navalny was given a suspended sentence of three and a half years, of which he has alrey served 10 months under house arrest. Navalny was found guilty of financial fraud by a Russian court. When Navalny was in Germany for treatment, Kremlin critic was warned by a Russian court that he return as soon as possible because he is allegedly in violation of his probation. After his arrest earlier this month, international community condemned action and called for his immediate release. 

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Navalny's poisoning

Last year in August, Navalny fell ill on a flight from Tomsk to Moscow following which he was mitted to a hospital. Navalny's aides alleged that he h been poisoned and demanded his transfer from Russia to Germany for treatment. Russian doctors ruled out poisoning but when Navalny reached Berlin, German doctors concluded that he was poisoned using vichok, a Soviet-era nerve nt. 

Navalny recovered following weeks in a medically-induced coma. Navalny continued his criticism of Russian state from Germany and claimed that Russian President Vlimir Putin was behind his poisoning. 

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(Im Credit: AP)