Protests took place throughout Europe yesterday following the announcement of the guilty verdict in the trial against Russian blogger and opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

In Germany, 30 people gathered outside the Russian Embassy in Berlin in response to a call for a picket against political repression in Russia put out by the Human Rights NGO iDecembrists.  To underline the arbitrariness of Russian justice, the demonstrators also raised the human rights cases of the Pussy Riot band members, who were sentenced to two years in a prison camp for their Kremlin-critical performance as well as the case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, modern Russia’s longest-serving political prisoner.

In London, 50 people gathered outside the Russian Embassy yesterday evening with banners calling for Navalny’s freedom and wearing ‘decade of injustice’ badges in recognition of the approaching 10-year anniversary of Khodorkovsky’s arrest. 

In France, a similar demonstration was organised by the Russian NGO based in Paris, Russie-Libertés. Around 100 people gathered at ‘Place du Trocadero’ in front of the Eiffel Tower in solidarity with the protests also taking place in Moscow.