Russia’s opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, who has been accused of defrauding two firms has now been found guilty and sentenced to a suspended prison term of three-and-a-half years.
His brother, Oleg, has been given a three-and-a-half year custodial sentence in the same trial.
The brothers were convicted of stealing 30m roubles (£334,600; $518,100) from the firms, one of which is an affiliate of French cosmetics giant, Yves Rocher.
They have also been fined 500,000 roubles (£5,460; $9,030) each and have been ordered to pay some 4m roubles in damages.
Navalny, accuses the government of President Vladimir Putin of widespread corruption, saying the charges are politically motivated.
The verdict was to be announced next month, but the court session was abruptly moved forward to Tuesday after his supporters announced plans for a big protest rally on January 15.
Tuesday’s verdict is the latest in a series of criminal cases against Navalny, which he says are fabricated to neutralise his influence.
In 2013 he came second in Moscow’s mayoral election, supported by 27% of voters.
