MOSCOW, July 18 (RIA Novosti) – At least two protesters were detained Thursday outside a court in Russia’s city of Kirov following the conviction of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, while thousands more of his followers promised to turn out for unsanctioned anti-Kremlin rallies later in the day.
Navalny, a whistle-blowing blogger and one of Russia’s most prominent opposition protest leaders, was sentenced to five years in prison Thursday for embezzlement linked to the 2009 sale of timber belonging to the KirovLes company at below market prices. His co-defendant in the trial, Pyotr Ofitserov, was sentenced to four years in jail.
At least two people were detained by police outside the court after a group of chanting pro-Navalny activists marched from the court building towards the detention center where Navalny was taken into custody, according to the ovdinfo.org grassroots website, which monitors protest-related arrests.
The guilty verdict sparked outrage among Navalny supporters, with over 10,000 signing up on social networks by late Thursday afternoon to attend an unauthorized demonstration just meters from Moscow's Kremlin walls and other locations across the country.
The call for a mass demonstration in support of Navalny prompted Moscow riot police to cordon off the area around the city's downtown Manezh Square on Thursday afternoon. Dozens of police trucks were reported to be parked in nearby streets.
The city authorities have warned against any unsanctioned protest activity. “All attempts to hold any events will be regarded by the law enforcement authorities as unsanctioned,” City Hall’s security department head Alexei Mayorov told RIA Novosti, warning the police would break up any unauthorized rally.
Last year Russia raised the maximum fines for “violation of the established rules of conduct” at protests to 20,000 rubles ($616) from previous 1,000 rubles ($30).
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