A Russian court has convicted a student vlogger of inciting protests.

The charges have been widely seen as politically motivated.

Twenty-one-year-old Yegor Zhukov was arrested in August accused of making extremist calls on his YouTube vlog.

He is among several dozen people who faced charges for their role in the past summer’s protests in Moscow.

Russia Opposition
Moscow student Yegor Zhukov gestures after his trial (AP)

The protests were sparked by the authorities’ refusal to register a dozen opposition candidates for city council.

The court in Moscow on Friday gave Zhukov a three-year suspended sentence and banned him from administering websites for two years.

Zhukov described his case as part of the crackdown on the opposition.