MOSCOW: Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was detained during a weekend protest on the eve of Vladimir Putin's inauguration for a fourth term, has been released and faces a court hearing next week, his lawyer said Sunday (May 6). OVD-Info, a rights organisation that monitors detentions, said it had received reports of police detaining 1,599 people across Russia, nearly half of them in Moscow. Read more: Alexei Navalny: 'There is no pro-Putin majority'

Navalny was arrested on Saturday shortly after arriving at Pushkin Square in Moscow during anti-government demonstrations, leading protesters in chants of "Down with the tsar." Navalny, who has been detained and jailed numerous times for organising similar protests, said he was proud to have made it to the rally. He had faced up to 30 days in jail and said at the time that the authorities wanted to keep him in jail on election day to prevent him from holding rallies -- but a planned court hearing was abruptly cancelled.
Russian police detain about 1,600 anti-government protesters, including opposition leader Alexei Navalny.