Pussy Riot member among protesters arrested in Moscow

Maria Alyokhina was among those detained after demonstrating all night against the conviction of prominent opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

More than 200 others were arrested at the rally on Tuesday.

Navalny tried to join the protests but was detained. He was convicted of fraud hours earlier in a case he says is politically motivated.

A court in Moscow handed the anti-corruption campaigner a suspended prison sentence of three-and-a-half years for defrauding two firms.

He had called for protests after his brother was sentenced to three years in jail for the same offence.

Police detained Navalny at the protest in Manezh Square on Tuesday and took him home, where he has been under house arrest since February.

A court has ruled that he will not face further sanctions for violating the terms of his detention.

Navalny says the legal cases against him and his brother are motivated by his opposition to President Vladimir Putin.

He accused authorities of trying to punish him by jailing his brother, and called for his supporters to gather near the Kremlin in protest.

Police prepare to push supporters of Russian opposition activist and anti-corruption crusader Alexei Navalny away during an unsanctioned protest in Moscow, Russia, 30 December 2014

Dozens of protesters, including well-known Russian bloggers, members of the group Pussy Riot and other opposition activists, climbed into a huge Christmas ball, a street decoration a few steps away from the Kremlin wall.

They continued their protest through the night as the temperature dropped to minus 20C.

Pussy Riot member Alyokhina was jailed in August 2012 after the band performed an obscenity-laced "punk prayer" at Moscow's main cathedral in protest at President Putin.

(BBC)