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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.
19:20 18.7.2013
People trying to avoid police by heading off onto side-streets.

19:09 18.7.2013
19:00 18.7.2013
As the sun sets RFE/RL Russian Service reports, "The crackdown begins."

18:58 18.7.2013
18:57 18.7.2013
"Femen," the radical feminist group, held a protest outside the Theatre of Russian drama.
18:44 18.7.2013
On the State Duma.

18:28 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.
18:09 18.7.2013
MBD is Ministry of Internal Affairs

18:02 18.7.2013
17:52 18.7.2013

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