A wave of protests swept Russia on March 26, following an online investigation by opposition leader Alexei Navalny into government corruption. Navalny has been barred from running in presidential elections next month due to an embezzlement charge his supporters say is politically motivated.

A Moscow court on Thursday sentenced a demonstrator at an anti-corruption rally held in the capital last year to nine months behind bars.

Moscow’s Tverskoy Court ruled that Dmitry Borisov had used violence against a police officer during the demonstration on March 26 last year.

Borisov’s lawyer, Ilya Novikov, said he plans to appeal the conviction, the investigative Novaya Gazeta newspaper reported.

Ahead of the verdict on Thursday, the Yabloko opposition party political party said in an online statement that the case was a "mockery of law and justice" and "another example of political repressions in Russia."

The protests organized by Navalny in March 2017 followed an online probe into luxurious residences and a Tuscan vineyard owned by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

According to OVD-Info, a police monitoring website, nearly 1000 demonstrators were detained in protests across the city. Borisov was one of seven demonstrators charged with using violence against law enforcement, the Meduza website reports.