Russian opposition activist's wife Taisiya Osipova 'jailed over drugs'

Taisiya Osipova was arrested in 2010 after police said four grams of heroin were found in her home (Getty Images)

A Russian opposition activist has said his wife has been sentenced to eight years in prison on drug charges.

Taisiya Osipova was arrested in 2010 after police said four grams of heroin were found in her home.

Osipova, the mother of a six-year-old daughter, claims that police planted drugs in revenge for her refusal to testify against her husband, Sergei Fomchenkov, an activist with The Other Russia movement.

Mr Fomchenkov reported the verdict on his Twitter account on Friday. The court in Smolensk was not available to confirm the verdict.

A witness for the defence testified that he saw a police officer plant the drugs in Osipova's apartment.

Osipova was one of the most prominent names on a list of people activists described as political prisoners submitted to then-president Dmitry Medvedev in February.