Russian opposition leader arrested for organizing illegal protest

"I left the dentist's office and you know what, the police showed up and said 'you're under arrest'," Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, wrote on Twitter on February 22.AFPreport

Navalny, 41, said he was taken to a Moscow police station and charged with multiple violations of protest regulations. He was released after about an hour.

"I'm released and waiting for my trial. I don't know when the trial will be," he said. Navalny faces up to 30 days in prison for organizing an illegal protest on January 28, calling on his supporters to boycott Russia's presidential election in March.

Moscow police said Mr Navalny had been asked to come to the police station to read the case file but the opposition leader had not done so. Navalny was arrested on January 28 and released on January 29. Navalny said the Kremlin was deliberately delaying the trial so that he would be in jail during the presidential election. The Kremlin did not comment on this information.

Russia's Central Election Commission (CEC) had previously banned Navalny from running, in connection with a suspended prison sentence.