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Navalny's Anti-Corruption Team Jailed After Live Streaming Protests

Vedomosti

Eleven people working for Russia's Anti-Corruption Fund (ACF) have been jailed after live streaming anti-government protests across Russia on Sunday.

The activists, who were detained at the ACF offices in Moscow on Sunday, were found guilty of disobeying police orders by a Moscow court on Monday.

The court ruled that staff had refused to evacuate their offices during the live steam when police stormed the building "to investigate a bomb threat."

The group was handed down jail time of between five and seven days, while Navalny’s campaign manager, Leonid Volkov, was given a 10-day sentence.

Another ACF employee, Navalny’s assistant Nikolai Lyaskin, was jailed for 25 days after being found guilty of repeatedly violating Russian protest law.

"All of the court's decisions will be appealed as needed," Navalny's spokesperson Kira Yarmysh said on Twitter Monday.

"Nikolai Lyaskin leaving Tveskoy Court — 25 days imprisonment."

Thousands of protesters gathered in more than 80 Russian towns and cities as part of a campaign co-ordinated by ACF co-founder and opposition leader Alexei Navalny. 

The protest live stream, which covered demonstrations across Russia's 11 time zones, was watched by up to 175,000 people at its peak, the Meduza news site reported.

Navalny, who plans to run in Russia's presidential elections in 2018, accused Medvedev in March of channeling bribes through non-profit organizations ran by his close friends and former classmates.The ACF carried out the investigation linking Medvedev to vast estates in Rusian and abroad, as well as several yachts.

An estimated 1,400 people were detained during the protests, many of which took place without permission from local authorities. The politician himself was fined 20,000 rubles ($350) and jailed for 15 days for disobeying police orders.

The Kremlin has so far refused to respond to Navalny's claims. 

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