Russian opposition leader sentenced to jail over protest against Putin

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was sentenced to 30 days in jail by a Moscow district court for participating in an "illegal" demonstration against President Vladimir Putin on May 5.

"The court has ruled to recognise Navalny guilty in committing an administrative offense under part 8, Article 20.2 of the Russian Code of Administrative Offence (recurrent violation of the established procedure of organization or holding rallies) and award a punishment of 30 days of administrative arrest," a judge from the Tverskoi district court was quoted by TASS news agency as saying.

Navalny, a vocal critic of Putin, also faces charges of disobedience to the police, which carries a 15-day punishment of police custody.

The anti-corruption crusader was released ahead of Putin's swearing-in ceremony as the president on May 7.

During the widespread protests, police in riot gear waded into the crowd on Moscow's Pushkin Square and were seen grabbing some demonstrators and leading them away, Euronews reported.

A video showed police carrying a struggling Navalny out of the square, holding him by his legs and arms, RadioFreeEurope Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported.

Crowds shouted slogans like "Down with the Tsar!" and "Russia without Putin".

Navalny is widely considered to be the only real challenger to Putin's rule but was barred from running in the Russian presidential election in March as he was not "eligible to run".