Russian protest chief Alexei Navalny avoids prison

Brothers Alexei, left, and Oleg Navalny take a selfie in front of the defendants cage yesterday. Picture: Reuters

Navalny led mass protests against President Vladimir Putin three years ago, when tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Moscow and St Petersburg to protest against corruption in his government and inner circle. Opposition figures say jailing Navalny risked a new wave of protests and so it was decided to punish him by jailing his brother instead.

Within hours Navalny was detained for breaking his house arrest as he joined hundreds of his supporters rallying in front of the Kremlin last night. More than 100 were detained as police dispersed the protest and returned him to his home.

The authorities had not given permission for the rally so it was considered illegal.

The Navalny brothers, Alexei and Oleg, were accused of stealing 30 million roubles (around £3.5 million) from two firms including an affiliate of the French cosmetics company Yves Rocher between 2008 and 2012.

Tuesday’s ruling will come as a relief for Navalny’s supporters after prosecutors asked that he be imprisoned for ten years.

The Kremlin denies allegations that it uses the courts to persecute opponents.

Officials have taken few steps to investigate Navalny’s corruption allegations. He claimed there was mass embezzlement, including in state bank VTB and pipeline monopoly Transneft, run by close allies of Mr Putin.

“Aren’t you ashamed of what you are doing?” Navalny told the court and judge Yelena Korobchenko. “Why are you putting him [Oleg] in prison? To punish me even harder?”

Alexei Navalny is serving another suspended five-year jail term for a separate conviction last year, which critics also called a sham.

“The authorities are torturing and destroying relatives of their political opponents. This regime doesn’t deserve to exist. It must be destroyed,” Navalny told reporters outside the court.