Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was detained by police outside his Moscow home on Monday ahead of an anti-government rally he was going to hold in central Moscow.  The Simonovsky district court ruled after midnight Monday that Navalny be jailed for 30 days for repeatedly violating the law on organizing public meetings. Navalny's wife announced the arrest on Twitter around 40 minutes before the protests were due to start. "Hello, this is Yulia Navalnaya," she wrote. "Alexei has been detained in the stairwell."

Navalny has been a bane for the Russian government since he finished second in the Moscow mayoral race in 2013 on an anti-Putin platform. That success effectively cemented his place as Russian's top opposition leader. However, Navalny's quest for the presidency has suffered repeated setbacks and hurdles, including repeated physical assaults. In April he required medical treatment after he had caustic green liquid thrown in his face. Earlier this year, Navalny' was also handed a suspended prison sentence for alleged corruption, which will likely bar him from running for the presidency next year. That was the latest in a series of trials that his supporters say have been organized by the Kremlin to halt his campaign.

Despite the setbacks, Navalny has vowed to continue challenging the government. "We can only force them to register me," he told supporters. "It's clear as day Putin doesn't want to come out to debate with me."

Courtesy:DW