MOSCOW - Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was detained Monday immediately following his release from prison after serving a 30-day sentence for an unauthorised protest. Yarmysh said President Vladimir Putin's top critic was accused of violating a different protest law and faces up to 20 days in prison. Navalny has criticised the pension reform that has led to a rare outburst of public anger in Putin's Russia. Writing on Twitter, his associate Lyubov Sobol said he Navalny was detained again "because the authorities are now weaker than ever." "The overwhelming majority of people are against raising the retirement age and (ruling) United Russia (party) was defeated in gubernatorial elections in key regions," she wrote.

Source: Bangkok Post September 24, 2018 12:56 UTC