The US sharply criticized Tuesday the sentencing of a Russian opposition leader to more than two-and-a-half years behind bars, saying the prison term is a blatant effort to stifle political dissent.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated Washington's calls for Alexey Navalny's immediate release, saying the legal proceedings against him "are​ a continuation of efforts to violate Mr. Navalny's rights and suppress political pluralism, as the ECHR previously found."

"Like every Russian citizen, Mr. Navalny is entitled to the rights provided in the Russian constitution, and Russia has international obligations to respect equality before the law and the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly," Blinken said.

"The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) concluded that Mr. Navalny’s 2014 conviction, which is the grounds for the new sentence, was 'unlawful and arbitrary' and 'politically motivated,'" he added.

A Moscow court sentenced Navalny to nearly three years in prison, but knocked about a year off the term for time already served in custody.

Navalny pleaded not guilty, and demanded his immediate release. His lawyers, Vadim Kobzev and Olga Mikhaylova, said they will appeal the conviction.

Navalny, 44, was arrested in Moscow after returning from Germany Jan. 17 where he was being treated after being poisoned with the suspected Novichok nerve agent. Navalny has placed blame for the poisoning squarely with Russian officials who deny any role.

Russian authorities said after he returned to the country that Navalny had violated probation terms from a suspended sentence linked to the 2014 money laundering offense, which Navalny says was "politically motivated."/aa