Putin critic Alexei Navalny held by police for breaking house arrest

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was detained by police after breaking house arrest on Tuesday to join an opposition rally in Moscow.

“I was detained,” Mr Navalny said on his Twitter account. “But they won‘t be able to detain everyone”.

A Russian court gave Mr Navalny a suspended sentence on Tuesday for embezzling money but jailed his brother for three-and-a-half years in a case seen as part of a campaign to stifle dissent.

Navalny led mass protests against president Vladimir Putin three years ago, when tens of thousands took to the streets in Moscow and St Petersburg to protest against corruption in Putin's government and inner circle.

The Navalny brothers were accused of stealing 30 million roubles, or around €440,000, from two firms, including an affiliate of the French cosmetics company Yves Rocher, between 2008 and 2012.

Prosecutors had asked that he be imprisoned for 10 years.

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

"Aren't you ashamed of what you are doing?" Mr Navalny told the court and judge Yelena Korobchenko.

“Why are you putting him (my brother Oleg) in prison? To punish me even harder?” Mr Navalny said.

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

Reuters