Kremlin critic Navalny jailed for 9 more yrs

A Russian court yesterday found jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny guilty of additional charges of embezzlement and contempt of court and sentenced him to nine years in prison as Moscow seeks to wipe out remaining pockets of dissent.

"Navalny committed fraud -- the theft of property by an organised group," Judge Margarita Kotova said, according to an AFP reporter present at the hearing held inside Navalny's penal colony outside Moscow.

The judge also found Navalny guilty of the less severe charge of contempt of court. His lawyers were detained by police outside the prison following the verdict, according to an AFP reporter on the scene.

Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's most vocal domestic critic, will serve his new sentence in a "strict-regime" penal colony which will place him in much harsher conditions.

The nine-year sentence will run concurrently with the term is he already serving. Navalny will also have to pay a fine of 1.2 million rubles ($11,500), the judge said.