A Moscow court jailed for three days on Thursday a leader of the opposition Solidarity movement on charges of attempting to stage an unsanctioned march.
Mikhail Schneider, along with another Solidarity leader, Boris Nemtsov, and prominent human rights activist Lev Ponomarev, were detained in downtown Moscow on Sunday.
Opposition activists had gathered for an authorized rally at the intersection of Novy Arbat Street and the Garden Ring to mark National Flag Day. Schneider and Nemtsov are said to have called on those gathered to stage an unsanctioned march in nearby Novinsky Boulevard.
Ponomarev, who was detained several hours later, claims he was "just passing by."
The three detainees spent more than 12 hours in custody before being released.
The court said Schneider was participating in an event that “bore the hallmarks of a march.”
Schneider rejects all the charges, and his lawyer has already filed an appeal against the court’s decision.
MOSCOW, August 26 (RIA Novosti)
