Russian opposition leader Navalny released from jail and arrested again

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was released from jail on Monday at the end of a 30-day sentence for staging an unsanctioned protest and then immediately detained again.

A police officer approached him and took him away just as he came out of a detention centre in Moscow at daybreak to be greeted by supporters and the media.

Navalny has been the driving force behind a recent series ofanti-government ralliesin dozens of cities and townsacross Russia.

Navalny's spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh, said on Monday that Navalny isfacing charges of staging a rally that caused bodily harm tounidentified people.

Thousands of Russians have taken to the streets in recent weeksto protest the Kremlin's plan to raise the retirement age.President VladimirPutin's popularity rating has suffered, and he walked back some of the reforms.

Possible fine, 20 more days in jail

Navalny's new detention came after a 30-daystint in jail for planning an unauthorized demonstration in the Russian capital in January that called for a boycott of what hesaid would be a rigged presidential election.

He said at the time that his jail sentence was designed bythe authorities to prevent him from leading nationalprotestsagainst the pension reform on Sept. 9, where more than 800people were detained.

Leonid Volkov, a Navalny ally, wrote on Twitter on Mondaymorning that Navalny had been taken to a police station as hewalked out of jail and was again being accused of violatingprotest laws.

Navalny's case will be heard in court later on Monday. Hecould face a fine and up to 20 days in jail,Yarmysh wrote on Twitter.

Outrage at the changes in the pension system has weighed heavily onKremlin candidates running in regional elections in Russian regions.

Early results from run-off votes in Sunday's gubernatorialelections in two Russian regions have opposition candidates beatingKremlin incumbents. A week earlier, an opposition candidate forgovernor in the Far East mounted protests following widespreadreports of vote-rigging in favour of the Kremlin candidate. Severaldays later, election authorities cancelled the results of theelections and called a new vote.

With files from Reuters