KIROV, February 8. /TASS/. A court in Kirov has handed a suspended five-year prison sentence to Aleksey Navalny after finding him guilty of embezzlement in the Kirovles case.

The other defendant in the retried case, Pyotr Ofitserov, was sentenced to four years in prison. His sentence was suspended, too. Both Navalny and Ofitserov will have to pay 500,000-ruble fines.

Navalny said that he will protest the court's ruling.

"We disagree with this sentence. It is an exact replica of the sentence that followed the first trial. We will appeal the sentence," Navalny said in the courtroom.

"We do not recognize this sentence. It will be overturned. I will participate in elections. Right now I am taking part in an election campaign," he said. "This sentence violates the European Court’s verdict. That verdict has not been enforced. We are expecting the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to react and to overturn the sentence passed today," lawyer Vadim Kobzev said.