Russian opposition leader Navalny jailed for 30 days over protest

Navalny, who has been detained and jailed several times for organising similar protests, was barred from running in Russia's presidential election in March.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was detained during the May 5 anti-Putin rally, arrives at the courthouse in Moscow on May 15, 2018. Nationwide demonstrations held on May 5 saw hundreds arrested as they protested Vladimir Putin's inauguration for a fourth term.
AFP

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was detained during the May 5 anti-Putin rally, arrives at the courthouse in Moscow on May 15, 2018. Nationwide demonstrations held on May 5 saw hundreds arrested as they protested Vladimir Putin's inauguration for a fourth term.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was sentenced to 30 days in jail by a Moscow court on Tuesday for his role in organising nation-wide protests ahead of President Vladimir Putin's inauguration for a fourth term.

Judge Dmitry Gordeyev of Moscow's Tverskoi district court found Navalny guilty of arranging the "unauthorised" demonstrations. 

Navalny was also found guilty of disobeying police orders in separate charges later in the day. 

The court heard testimony from one of the police officers who detained Navalny who said the group of 15 police had been authorised to use physical force. 

The police officer said Navalny ignored megaphone warnings that the protest was illegal.

"I consider the detention was illegal, my rights were violated," Navalny said in court, arguing he had a constitutional right to hold a protest.

Navalny's lawyer Vadim Kobzev said the trial had "clearly political motives" as Putin begins his fourth Kremlin term.

"The authorities have started forming a government and now are striving by any means to deprive Navalny of freedom, to prevent him reacting to this process."

"What happens in court really has no relation to the judgement, the judgement probably already exists... they need to observe some formal steps but it has no relation to the result," Navalny told reporters following the adjournment.

The charismatic 41-year-old politician, who was barred from challenging Putin in March's presidential election, had called on Russians to stage rallies across the country on May 5 under the slogan "Not our Tsar".

Nearly 1,600 protesters were detained in 27 cities across Russia.

Around one in 10 of those arrested were minors, according to OVD-Info, an independent monitor that tracks arrests.

Navalny himself was grabbed by police and carried away by his arms and legs shortly after appearing in Moscow's packed Pushkin square.

Putin, 65, won re-election overwhelmingly in March, extending his grip over Russia for six more years – a tenure of 24 years that would make him Moscow's longest-serving leader since Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

Navalny, who has been detained and jailed several times for organising similar protests, was barred from running in Russia's presidential election for what he says was a false pretext.

"30 days of arrest for the right to go out on the street of your city and tell the authorities: 'I am not your slave and will never be one. I do not need a new tsar'," Navalny said via his Twitter account after the decision.

He was also sentenced to 15 days in detention on a separate charge of refusing to comply with a police order. This will run concurrently with the first sentence and he should not be in jail for any longer than 30 days. 

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