Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is ‘arrested’ in Moscow  

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny says he has been arrested yet again in Moscow. 

Navalny has been leading protests after Moscow authorities – led by a mayor who is close to Vladimir Putin – banned opposition candidates from standing in city elections.  

The 43-year-old activist had promised to stage another mass rally this weekend.  

In a video on his Instagram account, the anti-corruption campaigner said he was detained as he was leaving his Moscow home to go jogging, and taken to a police station.  

‘People are right when they say that sport is not always good for your health,’ Navalny joked.

‘I have been detained and am now at a police station wearing shorts like a stupid man,’ the 43-year-old said. 

His spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, confirmed the arrest on her Twitter account.  

Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny posted this footage today in which he said he had been taken to a Moscow police station 

The reason for his arrest is unclear, but Navalny has been leading protests after opposition candidates were barred from standing in Moscow elections. 

After more than 20,000 people rallied at the weekend, Navalny had promised another demonstration outside Moscow’s city hall on Saturday.  

‘The Kremlin thinks we will forget, get scared, and not get out,’ he tweeted. 

The opposition says it was the largest protest since 2012 when tens of thousands rallied against election fraud during parliamentary polls. 

Election authorities have blocked many activists from running for Moscow parliament seats, accusing them of gathering fake signatures and other irregularities.

The candidates claim the process of vetting them was unfair and accuse election officials of rejecting them for political reasons. 

‘The gathering of signatures is used merely as a barrier for undesirable candidates,’ former MP Gennadiy Gudkov, who was also turned down by the authorities, said yesterday. 

The candidates from the opposition include allies of Navalny and many prominent activists who oppose the policies of Sergei Sobyanin, a Vladimir Putin loyalist first appointed as city mayor in 2010.

Navalny has been leading protests in Moscow (pictured) after opposition candidates were barred from challenging a Putin ally in local elections

Navalny has been leading protests in Moscow (pictured) after opposition candidates were barred from challenging a Putin ally in local elections 

The Moscow parliament approves important decisions on the colossal budget of the Russian capital but has virtually no opposition representatives.  

Navalny is a long-standing Kremlin foe who has been arrested and imprisoned numerous times by Russian authorities. 

Only three weeks ago he was handed a 10-day jail sentence on charges of taking part in an unsanctioned rally. 

He tweeted from the courtroom that the sentence was ‘unpleasant,’ but insisted it was necessary to keep protesting against authorities’ ‘lawless actions’. 

That protest surrounded the arrest of a prominent investigative reporter on drug-dealing charges, which were dropped within days for lack of evidence. 

Journalist Ivan Golunov’s case caused outrage, and Russian President Vladimir Putin responded by firing two senior police officers. 

Navalny tried to challenge Vladimir Putin for the Russian presidency in the 2018 election but a court stopped his campaign after a fraud conviction seen by many as politically driven.

Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny, pictured at a court hearing earlier this month, has frequently been arrested by Russian authorities

Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny, pictured at a court hearing earlier this month, has frequently been arrested by Russian authorities

The Kremlin has long dismissed him as a trouble-maker and urbanite out of touch with ordinary Russians. 

But he caused some alarm after he opened campaign offices in 80 cities and towns, most of which had not seen a political life for decades, attracting thousands of supporters. 

Putin eventually won the election with 77 per cent of the vote after Navalny was kept off the ballot. 

In November 2018 Navalny was stopped at the border and barred from leaving Russia as he was about to travel to a court hearing at the European Court for Human Rights in France. 

The ECHR was due to rule if his countless detentions had been politically motivated, which it subsequently did.  

The 43-year-old rose to prominence thanks to his investigations into official corruption, which he publicised on social media. 

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