Russian authorities, early Sunday, released detained opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, who was picked up on Saturday, as he led hundreds of people in an anti-government/anti-Putin demonstration in Moscow.
The demonstrations were timed to coincide with the swearing in of President Vladimir Putin for his fourth term in office.
Navalny’s tweet about his experience said he was released shortly after midnight on Sunday after police “registered two protocols against me: organization of a rally and resistance of the police.”
Navalny, who is contemporary Russia’s most prominent opposition figure, was barred from contesting the presidential election last March, as a result of an embezzlement conviction. But many watchers of Russian politics insist that the charges were trumped up and politically motivated.
With yesterday’s inauguration, Putin is assured another six years in office. he becomes the longest-serving Russian ruler, after Josef Stalin of the old Soviet Union.
Photo Credit: AFP/ KIRILL KUDRAYAVTSEV
