Russia: Putin critic Alexei Navalny sentenced to 9 years in prison

Longtime Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has been found guilty of fraud and embezzlement charges, as well as contempt of court, according to a verdict handed down on Tuesday.

The court sentenced Navalny to nine years in a maximum security prison. A judge also ordered Navalny to pay a fine of 1.2 million rubles (about $11,500, €10,400).

Navalny and his supporters have decried the charges as politically motivated. He is already serving a two-and-a-half year sentence at a prison camp east of Moscow for parole violations related to charges he says were trumped up to thwart his attempts to run for office.

Both Navalny and rights groups have said he has been tortured in prison.