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Aleksei Navalny Verdict Protests -- Liveblog

RFE/RL is live-blogging a mass unsanctioned protest taking place near the Kremlin this evening after a Kirov court sentenced Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny to five years in a penal colony. The decision has been widely condemned as politically motivated.

Here's a quick summary of today's events
  • Aleksei Navalny and co-defendant Pytor Ofitserov are convicted by a Kirov court of embezzlement and sentenced to five and four years in jail, respectively.
  • The final post from Navalny's Twitter account after the verdict reminds supporters to gather in protest at Manezh Square in Moscow on July 18.
  • Authorities close off Manezh Square and Red Square, with hundreds of people already gathering nearby.
  • Navalny's lawyer urges Muscovites to boycott local elections in September.
  • U.S. and EU officials cast doubt on the trial and cite political motives, echoing similar accusations from rights groups.
20:57 18.7.2013
"Femen," the radical feminist group, held a protest outside the Theatre of Russian drama.

20:44 18.7.2013
On the State Duma.

20:28 18.7.2013
VIA RFE/RL Russian, about 200 people came out to picket in the city of Samara -- about 1,000 km east of Moscow.

20:09 18.7.2013
MBD is Ministry of Internal Affairs

20:02 18.7.2013

19:52 18.7.2013

19:51 18.7.2013
Putin recently signed a law banning "homosexual propaganda."

19:48 18.7.2013
From Ilya Yashin, a Russian activist. He says detainees are not being provided with lawyers.

19:44 18.7.2013
From D.C. Correspondent Richard Solash -
U.S. State Department Reacts:

The United States is "very disappointed" by the trial and conviction of Aleksei Navalny. Speaking to reporters in Washington, U.S. State Department spokesperson Marie Harf called the trial "apparently politically motivated" and said Washington is "troubled by abuse of due process, as exemplified by the conduct of this trial." Harf said Navalny's conviction was the latest example of a "disturbing trend" in Russia that is "aimed at suppressing dissent and civil society."

19:41 18.7.2013
Here's a quick summary of today's events:

-Aleksei Navalny and co-defendant Pytor Ofitserov are convicted by a Kirov court of embezzlement and sentenced to five and four years in jail, respectively.
-Authorities close off Manezh Square and Red Square, with thousands gathered to protest. Authorities estimate 2,500 and activists say 5,000
-Prosecutors in Kirov say Navalny and Ofitserov, his business partner, should not have been arrested today. There will be a hearing tomorrow to determine if he should be released until sentencing is final.

-Navalny's campaign says if he is released he will continue to run for Moscow mayor.

- At least 100 people have been detained at Moscow protests and 32 in Saint Petersburg.

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