Protesters clash with riot police in fury over jailing of Putin critic Alexei Navalny as UK and US demand his release

PROTESTERS clashed with police after Putin critic Alexei Nalvany was jailed for three and a half years for leaving Russia after he was poisoned in a Novichock attack.

Protests erupted on Russia's streets last night following the news, as the UK, US and some EU member states called for the Putin critic's immediate release.

Police beat and arrested protesters who came out to support Navalny.

The activist was sentenced yesterday during a hearing in Moscow after being charged with violating his probation by travelling to Germany for life-saving treatment.

Navalny will serve two and a half years in prison, having already spent one year under house arrest.

In a statement posted to his official Facebook page, a spokesperson wrote: "[Three-and-a-half] years for Alexei Navalny - this is a sentence for our country.

"This will deprive Russia of the future for years to come. How many people will leave the country because of this?

"How many will be imprisoned following Alexei? We can't let this happen."

Navalny's allies called for an immediate protest in Moscow's Manezhnaya Square with riot police descending on the city landmark.

Pictures and video shows protesters being hauled away by riot police.

Around 679 people across central Moscow and St Petersburg were arrested, with half of that number detained in protests outside the courthouse.

PROTEST CHAOS

Navalny was arrested on January 17 when he returned from Germany where he had been recovering from the life-threatening Novichok attack.

The Novichok poison victim was found guilty of breaching probation rules requiring him to report to police.

But he had been unable to do so since being nearly killed by the nerve agent in an attack believed to have been ordered by president Vladimir Putin last August.

The opposition leader as well as other top officials have publicly pointed the finger at the Kremlin over the poisoning, but Russian authorities deny any involvement.

As Navalny was told he would be jailed, he accepted his fate with a ";resigned shrug," the BBC reports.

Prosecutors claimed he had violated the terms of a suspended sentence for fraud he received in 2014 by travelling to Germany for his life-saving treatment after the poisoning.

Navalny yelled “Don’t worry. Everything will be ok” to dedicated wife Yulia, who was watching in the court and drew a heart on the dock’s bullet-proof glass.

In a fiery speech, he had earlier accused Putin of ordering his assassination with novichok raging that his “only method is killing people”.

His wife, Yulia was briefly held in custody last week after she was arrested at an anti-Putin protest in Moscow.

Saluting her before proceedings began yesterday, Navalny said: “They said that you had seriously violated public order and were a bad girl. I’m proud of you.”

Following the sentencing Boris Johnson tweeted: "Alexey @Navalny's decision to return to Russia after being poisoned was a truly brave and selfless act.

"In contrast, today's ruling was pure cowardice and fails to meet the most basic standards of justice. Alexey Navalny must be released immediately."

UK foreign secretary Dominic Raab called for his immediate release.

He said: "The UK calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Alexey Navalny and all of the peaceful protesters and journalists arrested over the last two weeks.

"Todays perverse ruling, targeting the victim of a poisoning rather than those responsible, shows Russia is failing to meet the most basic commitments expected of any responsible member of the international community."

And shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy tweeted: "Alexei Navalny’s sentence is an affront to basic principles of justice.

"He should be released immediately. His courageous campaign will only be strengthened by the effort to silence him."

But spokeswoman for the Russian foreign Affairs ministry Maria Zakharova warned other nations not to "interfere" with the ruling.

She said: "For the last few weeks we have been in a state of comments and responses to similar attacks and statements.

"You should not interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign state. And we recommend that everyone deal with their own problems…There are a lot of problems in these countries, there is work to be done."

US officials said they were "deeply concerned" by the sentencing and called for his immediate release.

“The United States is deeply concerned by Russian authorities’ decision to sentence opposition figure Navalny to two years and eight months imprisonment, replacing his suspended sentence with jail time,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

“We reiterate our call for the Russian government to immediately and unconditionally release Mr. Navalny, as well as the hundreds of other Russian citizens wrongfully detained in recent weeks for exercising their rights, including the rights to freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly,” he added.

And Lithuania and Latvia have called on the EU to impose sanctions on Russia.

PUTIN CRITIC JAILED

“The dialogue between the European Union and Russia is now possible only in the language of sanctions,” Lithuania’s Gabrielius Landsbergis said.

“If the community doesn’t hurry, Lithuania will consider its own national sanctions,” he added.

Meanwhile, Edgars Rinkevics, the Latvian foreign minister, tweeted: “EU must impose sanctions, Council of Europe must act as this is breach of European Court of Human Rights ruling.”

Speaking in court, Navalny blasted Putin's "fear and hatred," saying the Russian leader "will go down in history as a poisoner."

The activist then kicked it up a notch mocking the Russian strongman as "the poisoner of underwear".

He added: "I have deeply offended him simply by surviving the assassination attempt that he ordered.

"The aim of that hearing is to scare a great number of people," he added.

"You can't jail the entire country."

Russian officials said Navalny violated the terms of his probation relating to a 2014 money laundering conviction when he travelled to Germany after nearly dying in the poison attack.

Prosecutors asked Simonovsky District Court to change the activist's suspended sentence into one that he must serve in priosn.

But Navalny blasted back that the European Court of Human Rights has ruled his 2014 conviction was unlawful, and Russia paid him compensation in line with the ruling.

The 44-year-old's lawyers argued it would have been impossible for him to register with the courts in person as he was receiving life-saving treatment and in a comatose condition until September 7.

Navalny also insisted that his due process rights were crudely violated during his arrest and described his jailing as a "travesty of justice."

Last week thousands of anti-Putin protesters were arrested after huge rallies in support of Navalny.

More than 5,300 pro-Navalny demonstrators were held by riot cops in 90 towns and cities across Russia on Sunday - a week after 4,000 arrests during protests.

Several of his allies were detained following police raids on their apartments and offices hours before the verdict and in the run-up to Sunday's rally at the FSB security service's Moscow HQ.

A makeshift court at a police station last week ordered Navalny placed in custody until February 15.

From his cell he blasted Vladimir Putin’s “blatant lawlessness” following the extended prison time.

"This is blatant lawlessness to intimidate me and other people," Navalny told the court via video link from Moscow's Matrosskaya Tishina, a high-security detention centre.

Later in the day President Vladimir Putin's top domestic critic issued a new call for nationwide protests.

"Don't be afraid of anything. The majority is on our side. Let's wake them up," he wrote.