Russian opposition leader arrested shortly after release

Moscow : Russia's opposition leader Alexei Navalny was rearrested on Monday moments after he had finished serving a 30-day sentence.

He is accused of violating a protest law and faces 20 days in jail or a fine. He is due in court later on Monday, the BBC reported.

The sentence Navalny had just served was over planning an unauthorised anti-government demonstration in January.

The 42-year-old politician has long been the most prominent face of Russian opposition to President Vladimir Putin.

In recent weeks, the opposition politician has called for nationwide protests against government plans to raise the retirement age in Russia - a deeply unpopular reform that is fuelling resentment with the authorities and which has dented Putin's popularity.

Earlier this month, the head of Russia's National Guard Viktor Zolotov had threatened to make "a juicy beefsteak" out of Navalny, after the political activist had published allegations of large-scale corruption within the National Guard.

Navalny's candidacy in the 2018 presidential election was banned by the authorities over his conviction by a Russian court of embezzlement, which barred him from running for office.