Russia's top opposition leader Alexei Navalny was sentenced to 20 days in jail for organising an opposition protest in a new court ruling Monday, the day he was freed after spending a month behind bars, his spokeswoman said.
"Twenty days," Navalny's spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said on Twitter after a Moscow district court issued the ruling late Monday.
The 42-year-old anti-corruption campaigner will now have spent a total of 50 days in prison for organising two opposition protests.
He was detained early Monday immediately upon his release from jail after serving a 30-day sentence for organising an opposition rally in January.
He spent some eight hours in a holding cell ahead of the trial.
The new ruling is related to Navalny's call on Russians to take to the streets on September 9.
Navalny timed those protests to coincide with a nationwide election when Russians voted to elect a Moscow mayor and regional governors, among others.
Navalny was jailed ahead of the September 9 protests when thousands rallied across Russia and more than a thousand people were detained, according to an independent monitor.
His allies fear that the two consecutive administrative cases mean the authorities may be getting ready to open a criminal probe against Putin's top foe.
In that case he could face a lengthy prison term.
Ahead of the ruling, Amnesty International urged the Russian authorities to release the opposition politician.
"He is a prisoner of conscience that has not committed any crime," Natalia Zviagina, director of Amnesty International in Russia, said in a statement.
Russia’s top opposition leader Alexei Navalny was sentenced to 20 days in jail for organising an opposition protest in a new court ruling Monday, the day he was freed after spending a month behind bars, his spokeswoman said.
“Twenty days,” Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said on Twitter after a Moscow district court issued the ruling late Monday.
The 42-year-old anti-corruption campaigner will now have spent a total of 50 days in prison for organising two opposition protests.
He was detained early Monday immediately upon his release from jail after serving a 30-day sentence for organising an opposition rally in January.
He spent some eight hours in a holding cell ahead of the trial.
The new ruling is related to Navalny’s call on Russians to take to the streets on September 9.
Navalny timed those protests to coincide with a nationwide election when Russians voted to elect a Moscow mayor and regional governors, among others.
Navalny was jailed ahead of the September 9 protests when thousands rallied across Russia and more than a thousand people were detained, according to an independent monitor.
His allies fear that the two consecutive administrative cases mean the authorities may be getting ready to open a criminal probe against Putin’s top foe.
In that case he could face a lengthy prison term.
Ahead of the ruling, Amnesty International urged the Russian authorities to release the opposition politician.
“He is a prisoner of conscience that has not committed any crime,” Natalia Zviagina, director of Amnesty International in Russia, said in a statement.
