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Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny briefly detained before election

Alexei Navalny posted a picture of himself in a van with police after he was detained - Alexei Navalny/Instagram
Alexei Navalny posted a picture of himself in a van with police after he was detained - Alexei Navalny/Instagram

Opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been charged with an administrative offence that could put him in jail when Vladimir Putin stands for re-election on March 18.

Mr Navalny said on Twitter on Thursday afternoon that police had taken him into custody as he was coming out of a dentist's office. He posted a photograph of himself in a van with police officers.

He later tweeted that he had been charged with illegally organising a public demonstration, an administrative violation that carries a potential 30-day jail sentence for repeat offenders like Mr Navalny, and released.

The anti-corruption activist has been holding campaign rallies and protests around Russia over the past year, but was barred in December from running against Vladimir Putin in the election due to a politicised embezzlement conviction against him. 

Since then, he has been calling for a voter boycott on March 18. Although Mr Putin is expected to easily win given his stable popularity, the Kremlin fears an embarrassingly low turnout for the dull election.

Vladimir Putin announces he will run for re-election at a car factory in December - Credit: Mikhail Metzel/TASS via Getty Images
Vladimir Putin announces he will run for re-election at a car factory in December Credit: Mikhail Metzel/TASS via Getty Images

Mr Navalny was detained at a electoral boycott rally on January 28, but police later released him without charges. He has said this was so he could be detained again closer to the election, since the kind of administrative arrest he has been sentenced to in the past can only last 30 days.

“If they would jail me on 28 January, I would walk free on 28 February. But Putin wants me to be isolated right before the election, and preferably during the election,” he said. 

Alexei Navalny is detained at a 28 January rally calling for an election boycott - Credit: Evgeny Feldman/AP
Alexei Navalny is detained at a 28 January rally calling for an election boycott Credit: Evgeny Feldman/AP

Earlier this month, investigators questioned Mr Navalny about allegedly kicking one of the police officers who were filmed tackling him to the ground at the January 28 protest.

Mr Navalny's campaign manager Leonid Volkov was detained in a Moscow airport on Thursday morning on his way to speak at a Navalny headquarters in the city of Ufa.