DHAKA: A court in Russia has sentenced eight protesters for rioting and attacking police at a demonstration against Vladimir Putin’s inauguration for a third presidential term in 2012.

Seven of the ‘Bolotnaya’ activists received prison terms of up to four years. An eighth, the only woman on trial, received a suspended sentence.

Outside the court in Moscow, police detained about 200 people who rallied in support of the defendants.

The activists were convicted on Friday.

But the judge delayed sentencing until Monday, sparking speculation that the Kremlin was trying to avoid negative publicity ahead of Sunday’s closing ceremony for the Sochi Winter Olympics.

Amnesty International called Friday’s guilty verdicts a ‘hideous injustice’ which came at the end of a ‘show trial’.

About 650 activists were detained following clashes with police at an anti-Kremlin protest in Moscow’s Bolotnaya Square, a day before Putin was due to be sworn in for a third term as president in May 2012.

Criminal proceedings were subsequently started against 28 individuals, reports the BBC.

BDST: 1845 HRS, FEB 24, 2014