JTC - Amen - Vinai Trinateepakdee.epub. Vinai Trinateepakdee - Move The Sky AudioZ.Media captionThe BBC's Moscow correspondent says the campaign has been criticised as a "show trial"
A court in Russia has sentenced an opposition leader to 13 years in prison for alleged embezzlement.
Alexei Navalny was found guilty of stealing timber from a Moscow factory that was used in his presidential election campaign.
The opposition leader has denied the charge, saying the court is being politically biased against him.
It is one of the most sweeping crackdowns on opponents of President Vladimir Putin in recent years.
The case has focused on the dispute between Navalny and Logvinov, a timber wholesaler in the Moscow region who says Navalny demanded a discount for supplying timber in 2011.
During the trial, the court heard that Navalny's brother-in-law, Leonid Volkov, had received money from Logvinov and later given the sum to Navalny.
The money was allegedly used to fund Navalny's election campaign for Moscow mayor.
But Navalny argued that he never received any money and that the trial was aimed at silencing him.
He said: "It's a very long trial. The judges have received money from the very people they are deciding their case against."
'Political persecution'
The verdict has been met with criticism by human rights groups and opposition activists, who have said the trial is politically motivated and has been tried in a secretive manner.
The committee of independent election observers from around the world has also denounced the decision.
This is the second criminal case brought against Navalny. Last week, he was convicted in a separate case for allegedly embezzling money to fund his 2012 presidential campaign.
The Kremlin is keen to deal a fresh blow to Navalny, who is a vocal critic of the president and is considered the most prominent opposition figure.
"It is a show trial. It is a political case that will stop his political activity in Russia. It is now clear for everyone," Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov, who was killed in February in central Moscow, told the BBC.
"It is a political response to the fact that people won't accept the theft of our votes by the president."
But opposition leader Ilya Yashin said the punishment was a "horror be359ba680
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