Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was sentenced to five years in jail for theft yesterday, an unexpectedly tough punishment which supporters said proved President Vladimir Putin was a dictator ruling by repression.

Navalny, an anti-corruption campaigner who led the biggest protests against Putin since he took power in 2000, hugged his wife Yulia and his mother, shook his father's hand and then passed them his watch before being led away in handcuffs.

"Shame! Disgrace!" protesters chanted outside the court in Kirov, about 550 miles northeast of Moscow.

The United States and European Union expressed concern over the conviction, saying it raised questions about the rule of law in Russia and Putin's treatment of opponents. Russian shares fell on concerns the ruling could provoke social unrest.

In a last message from court, Navalny, 37, referred to Putin as a toad who abuses Russia's vast oil revenues to stay in power and made clear he expected his supporters to press his campaign.

The opposition said they planned a series of protests.

Prosecutors had asked the court to jail Navalny for six years on charges of organising a scheme to steal at least 16 million roubles (£325,000) from a local timber firm when he was advising the Kirov region governor in 2009.

Opposition politician Boris Nemtsov said: "With today's ruling, Putin has told the whole world he is a dictator who sends his political opponents to prison."