–

Russian anti-Kremlin opposition leader Alexei Navalny (C) and his brother and co-defendant Oleg (R) attend the verdict announcement of their fraud trial at a court in Moscow on December 30, 2014. A Russian court on December 30 handed a 3.5-year suspended sentence to top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in his controversial fraud trial, after abruptly moving forward the reading of the verdict. Judge Yelena Korobchenko found Navalny and his brother Oleg guilty of embezzlement. But while Navalny received a suspended sentence, his brother was handed a 3.5-year prison term and handcuffed in the courtroom in a move that Navalny angrily denounced as political ‘pressure.’ AFP PHOTO / DMITRY SEREBRYAKOV