Alexei Navalny jailed for 15 days after biggest anti-Kremlin demonstrations in five years

A Russian opposition leader has been jailed after leading the largest anti-Kremlin protests in five years.  

Alexei Navalny, 40, was jailed for 15 days for disobeying a police officer at Sunday's protest against government corruption in Moscow. 

Earlier he was fined 20,000 rubles (£280) for taking part in an unsanctioned demonstration against government corruption in central Moscow on Sunday afternoon.

Thousands of people marched in cities across Russia on Sunday to demand Dmitry Medvedev, the prime minister, resign over corruption allegations released in a dossier compiled by Mr Navalny.  

Most of the marches were unsanctioned by the authorities, in violation of Russian law. Up to 700 people, including Mr Navalny, were arrested by riot police after attending the march in Moscow.

Police also arrested 17 people at the office of Mr Navalny’s anti-corruption campaign group, which was running a webcast of the demonstration.

After arriving in court on Monday morning, Mr Navalny tweeted a selfie with the caption: “A time will come when we'll put them on trial too - and that time it will be fair."

Mr Navalny struck a defiant note at the hearing, suggesting that Mr Medvedev be called as a witness to explain why so many people took to the streets, and comparing the judge to his teenage daughter. 

"Your honour, I have a 15 year old daughter, when she is wrong she, like you, also becomes rude," reporters in the courtroom quoted him as saying. 

Sunday’s demonstrations were the largest since the winter of 2011 and 2012, when a series of massive protests took place in Moscow following elections marred by accusations of fraud.

Unlike the five years ago, Sunday’s protests took place in cities across the country, including Novosibirsk in Siberia, Yekaterinburg in the Urals, and Vladivostok in the Far East.

The breadth of the protests poses a challenge for the Kremlin, which has characterised previous Moscow-based opposition marches as the work of an out-of-touch metropolitan elite.

The Kremlin on Monday said it "respected" the rights of protesters but accused march organizers of inciting "illegal" actions. 

"The Kremlin respects people's civic stance and their right to voice their position," Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin's spokesman, said.

"We can't express the same respect to those who consciously misled people and who consciously did it yesterday and provoked illegal actions."

Mr Peskov claimed to have evidence that organizers had offered minors "certain rewards" to take part, and called the Moscow demonstration a "provocation." 

Mr Peskov also defended the police, calling their response "highly professional and lawful."

Asked about the Kremlin's reaction to the wide geography of the protests, something that has not been seen at least since 2011, Mr Peskov said: "the Kremlin is quite sober about the scale of yesterday's protests, and are not inclined to diminish them or push them out of proportion."

The European Union called on the Kremlin to release those detained “without delay.”

A spokesman said in a statement that Russian police had "prevented the exercise of basic freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly, which are fundamental rights enshrined in the Russian constitution".

The US State Department said Russian citizens should be allowed to "exercise their rights without fear of retribution".

Mr Navalny, 40, is arguably Russia’s most popular opposition leader. He plans to run for president against Vladimir Putin, the incumbent, at elections next year.

The lawyer-turned-opposition leader is serving a suspended sentence for a fraud and embezzlement conviction that he says are politically motivated.

A conviction for attending an unsanctioned rally could be presented as a violation of the terms of probation, potentially sending him to jail.

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