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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Putin critic gets suspended sentence | Putin critic gets suspended sentence |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been been found guilty in a high-profile fraud case. | |
| Navalny has been given a suspended prison sentence of three-and-a-half years for defrauding two firms. | Navalny has been given a suspended prison sentence of three-and-a-half years for defrauding two firms. |
| His brother Oleg has been given a three-and-a-half custodial sentence in the same trial. | His brother Oleg has been given a three-and-a-half custodial sentence in the same trial. |
| Navalny, who accuses the government of President Vladimir Putin of widespread corruption, has said the charges are politically motivated. | Navalny, who accuses the government of President Vladimir Putin of widespread corruption, has said the charges are politically motivated. |
| The brothers have been convicted of stealing 30m roubles (£334,600; $518,100) from the firms, one of which is an affiliate of French cosmetics giant Yves Rocher. | |
| The verdict was to have been announced next month, but the court session was abruptly moved forward to Tuesday after his supporters announced plans for a big protest rally on 15 January. | The verdict was to have been announced next month, but the court session was abruptly moved forward to Tuesday after his supporters announced plans for a big protest rally on 15 January. |
| Alexei Navalny has been one of Mr Putin's fiercest critics for several years. He led mass protests against the president in 2011. | |
| Tuesday's verdict is the latest in a series of criminal cases against Navalny, which he says are fabricated to neutralise his political influence. | |
| He is already under house arrest, serving a five-year suspended sentence for the alleged theft of 16m roubles (£175,400; $276,300) from a timber firm in 2009. | |
| The BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Moscow said that Navalny was clearly shocked by the outcome of the trial for his brother. | |
| "Why are you putting him in prison?" he asked the judge. "To punish me even harder?" | |
| Mr Navalny has mobilised thousands of supporters on social media. His supporters plan a rally at 19:00 (16:00 GMT) on Tuesday. They plan to hold it in Moscow's Manezh Square, near the Kremlin, an announcement on Facebook said. |