Britain demands immediate release of jailed Putin critic Alexei Navalny after Kremlin sentence opposition leader to a further 19 years

Britain has demanded the immediate released of jailed Putin critic Alexei Navalny after the Kremlin opposition leader was given a further 19-year sentence for 'extremism'.

The 47-year-old appeared in a closed hearing on Friday in a makeshift courtroom at the IK-6 penal colony where he is being held, roughly 155 miles east of Moscow.

Mr Navalny, already serving a nine-year term, was handed nearly two decades more following the behind-closed-doors trial - which has since been dubbed a 'sham'.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said Moscow's 'abuse' of the opposition leader shows a 'complete disregard for even the most basic of human rights' - and demanded his release.

Mr Cleverly tweeted: 'Alexei @Navalny has been sentenced to an additional 19 years in a Russian prison.