A Moscow court sentenced Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny to 3.5 years in jail in defiance of pressure from domestic protesters and Western countries.

Navalny, 44, was detained on Jan. 17 when he returned to Moscow from Berlin, where he had spent months recovering from a near-fatal poisoning attack in August.

He has already spent 11 months in prison, so will therefore be jailed for just over two-and-a-half years.

Navalny's team called for immediate protests in the center of Moscow over the Kremlin critic's jailing. Lawyers for Mr Navalny say he plans to appeal the court's decision. 

(With input from agencies)