Kremlin critic jailed for 30 days

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on Monday was sentenced to 30 days in jail after being convicted of breaking public protest laws, Reuters reported.

The jail sentence will keep Navalny from leading an anti-government rally against pension reform in September, according to Reuters. Navalny told the Russian court that he thought authorities were jailing him to keep him from attending the protest, per Reuters.

{mosads}The Russian opposition leader, who attempted to run for president in the 2018 election, was found guilty of breaking public protest laws by organizing a protest in January, according to Reuters.

Navalny was arrested in January while on his way to that protest, which he organized to encourage Russians to boycott the country’s March presidential election.

Navalny’s attempt to run for president was barred by Russia’s Central Election Commission, which voted to prevent him from running against Russian President Vladimir Putin, citing a conviction in a fraud case that many consider to be political pushback. 

About 1,000 people gathered at the protest he organized in January, holding signs that read, “They’ve stolen the election from us” and “Elections without Navalny are fake.”

Earlier this month, Navalny called for demonstrations to be held next month across Russia to protest a plan to raise the retirement age in the country.