Court upholds guilty verdict for Russian opposition leader

A court in a provincial Russian city has found opposition leader Alexei Navalny guilty in the retrial of a 2013 fraud case, which means that he cannot run for president next year.

In a webcast hearing today, Judge Alexei Vtyurin said Navalny was guilty of embezzling timber worth about $500,000. The previous guilty verdict was overturned by the European Court of Human Rights which ruled that Russia violated Navalny's right to a fair trial.

The judge has to yet to pronounce sentence.

Navalny, the driving force between behind massive anti-government protests in 2011 and 2012, had announced plans to run for office in December and had begun to raise funds.