Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny found guilt

Russia's main opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, has been found guilty of embezzlement and handed a five-year suspended sentence.

It bars him from running for president next year against Vladimir Putin.

But Mr Navalny has vowed to take part in the race regardless. He denies the charges and says he will appeal against the verdict.

His conviction came in a retrial after the European Court of Human Rights ruled the first trial to be unfair.

Reacting to the sentence, Mr Navalny said: "We don't recognise this ruling. I have every right to take part in the election according to the constitution and I will do so."

The outspoken critic of President Putin also said the sentence in the case, which he claims is politically motivated, was a sign that the Kremlin considered him to be too dangerous.

In addition to the suspended sentence, he and a co-defendant were both handed a 500,000 rouble ($8,500; £6,700) fine.

In the first trial, in 2013, Mr Navalny was found guilty of heading a group that embezzled timber worth 16m roubles ($500,000; £330,000) from the Kirovles state timber company while working as an adviser to Kirov's governor, Nikita Belykh.

He was then given a five-year suspended sentence. The verdict was widely condemned by the European Union and the US, with opposition supporters clashing with police in Moscow, St Petersburg and other cities.

But the verdict was overturned by the Russian Supreme Court last year following a judgment by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) that said he was not given a fair hearing at the first trial.

The ECHR also said the original trial had failed to address allegations that it was politically motivated.

And last week, the ECHR ordered Russia to pay him more than €63,000 (£54,000; $67,000) in compensation, saying his right to peaceful protest had been violated multiple times, in cases dating back to 2012.

At the start of the verdict, judge Alexei Vtyurin said the court had established that Mr Navalny had "organised" the theft.

Under Russian law, he is banned from running for office for 10 years after being convicted of a serious crime.

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