Live Updates: Aleksei Navalny Detained

Latest News

-- Kremlin opponent Aleksei Navalny has been detained by police while trying to reach an unsanctioned rally in Moscow against his December 30 conviction in a fraud case. He was trying to reach the protest near the Kremlin despite being under house arrest.

-- Russian riot police have deployed in Moscow's Manezh Square, near the Kremlin, where thousands of demonstrators at an unsanctioned rally are protesting a court ruling against Navalny.

-- A Russian court found Navalny and his brother Oleg guilty. Oleg will get 3 1/2 years in a prison colony while Aleksei has been given a 3 1/2-year suspended sentence.

-- Speaking after the verdict, Navalny called on Russians to take to the streets. He said the state had taken to "torture" of family members. Other activists have compared the sentence of his brother to "hostage-taking."

-- Prosecutors claimed Navalny and his brother stole about 31 million rubles ($520,000) from the Russian affiliate of Yves Rocher, a French cosmetics firm. They were both also fined 500,000 rubles ($8,500) each and ordered to pay 4.4 million rubles ($70,000) in compensation to one of the companies they were charged with defrauding.

-- The verdict was originally scheduled for January 15, but in a surprise move authorities moved the date to December 30. Some suspect the change of timing is to distract from a protest being organized on January 15. The official holiday season begins on January 1 in Russia.

NOTE: Times according to Moscow time.