Alexei Navalny jailed for nine more years

Russia's most prominent opposition figure Alexei Navalny has been given nine years in a maximum security jail in a fraud case rejected by supporters as fabricated, the BBC reports.

Navalny is already serving three and a half years in jail for breaking bail conditions while in hospital.

According to BBC, a judge has now found him guilty of fraud and contempt of court. Prosecutors accused him of stealing $4.7m of donations given to his now banned anti-corruption foundation.

As BBC reports, delivering her verdict, Judge Margarita Kotova said Navalny had carried out "the theft of property by an organised group".

Alexei Navalny was arrested in January 2021 after returning from Germany, where he was receiving medical treatment after being poisoned with a nerve agent.