A Moscow district court on Sunday announced it has convicted Russian opposition leader Ilya Yashin to 5-day-long administrative arrest over disobedience to police during December 31 rallies at the capital's central Triumfalnaya Square.
Earlier in the day court's spokesperson Alexandra Berezina announced that another opposition leader, Boris Nemtsov, has been convicted to 15 days in prison over the same charges.
Nemtsov, a staunch critic of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and leader of the opposition Solidarity movement in an interview with the liberal Moscow radio station Ekho Moskvy called the sentence "mockery of common sense" and said he would challenge it.
The politician called the allegations against him trumped up. He also said he met the new year in a police ward with to windows and beds.
Two protest rallies - one sanctioned and one not, were held at the Moscow's central Triumfalnaya Square December 31.
Some 70 people were detained during the unauthorized rally, Moscow police spokesman Viktor Biryukov said.
Vladlen Kralin aka Tor, radical Movement Against Illegal Immigration activist, was also convicted to ten days in jail over disobedience to police, Berezina said.
MOSOCW, January 2 (RIA Novosti)
