MOSCOW -- Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who has been barred from running in the next month's presidential election, said he was briefly detained by police on Thursday.

Navalny said on his Twitter account that he was nabbed early Thursday afternoon as he was leaving a dentist's office in Moscow. Less than an hour later he tweeted that he was taken to a police station where he was presented with charges of organizing an unsanctioned rally and released.

There was no official confirmation and it was not immediately clear when he would appear in court.

Navalny, who is President Vladimir Putin's most formidable foe, spearheaded protest rallies last month, calling for a boycott of the upcoming presidential vote. He was briefly detained at a Jan. 28 protest in Moscow but police did not immediately bring any charges against him.

Navalny's allies speculated that police would delay charging him to allow authorities to keep him behind bars on the election date, March 18.

Navalny mounted a nationwide grass-roots presidential campaign last year, tapping into the discontent in Russia's once politically dormant provinces which have traditionally voted for Putin. The anti-corruption campaigner was denied a place on the ballot in December because of a fraud conviction that many view as politically motivated.

Separately, Navalny's campaign chief Leonid Volkov said he was detained at a Moscow airport earlier on Thursday. His whereabouts were not immediately clear.

Navalny's boycott campaign is worrisome for the Kremlin, which fears that a lower voter turnout would be seen as a sign of declining support for Putin. </s> Russian election officials have barred opposition leader Aleksei Navalny from participating in the March 2018 presidential election, citing a criminal conviction that Navalny has said was politically motivated to block him from running.

In a statement issued on June 23, the Central Election Commission said that "Navalny does not have passive suffrage," making him ineligible to run for public office.

In 2013, Navalny was given a five-year suspended sentence on a large-scale embezzlement charge in a case he says was engineered by the Kremlin to prevent him from challenging Russian President Vladimir Putin for the presidency.

The Supreme Court threw out the initial conviction last year, but Navalny was convicted again in a retrial and lost an appeal against that verdict last month.

On June 14, Russia's top election commission chief Ella Pamfilova said Navalny was almost certain to be barred from the presidential election, citing the criminal conviction.

In an interview on Russian channel Dozhd TV, Pamfilova said Navalny "has no chance of being registered for the election due to his conviction."

She said it was possible "a miracle might happen and [Navalny] might file an appeal," but she said he has "practically no chance of being registered."

The Central Election Commission's ruling appears unlikely to stop Navalny from campaigning ahead of the vote, in which Putin is widely expected to seek and secure a fourth term in office.

Navalny is an anticorruption crusader and political opponent of Putin who has organized nationwide street protests twice since March. He has been campaigning for the presidency despite statements by officials who have said his conviction on the financial-crimes charge means he cannot seek office. </s> Russia: Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny can not run for presidency because of his criminal conviction, the Central Election Commission, said in a statement on Friday.

"Navalny does not have passive suffrage," said the statement, meaning he was ineligible to run for office.

Navalny was found guilty of embezzlement in February and given a five-year suspended prison sentence in a court case he says was organised to stop him running for president. </s> Update 12.10pm: Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been arrested in Moscow as protest demonstrations called by him took place across the country.

He has called on supporters to continue the demonstrations despite his arrest Sunday.

He said on Twitter: "They have detained me. This doesn't mean anything ... you didn't come out for me, but for your future."

Protests ranging from a few dozen to several hundred people were reported throughout the country.

Mr Navalny is calling for a boycott of the March 18 presidential election in which President Vladimir Putin is seeking a fourth term.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, centre, is detained by police officers in Moscow. Photo: AP Photo/Evgeny Feldman

Russia police have raided the Moscow office of opposition leader Alexei Navalny as demonstrations calling for a boycott of Russia’s presidential election take place across the country.

A video stream on Sunday morning from Mr Navalny’s headquarters showed police entering the office.

Police guard outside the office of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow. Photos: AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin

One broadcaster on the stream said police apparently were using a grinder to try to get access to the broadcast studio.

The anchors said police say they had come because of a bomb threat.

Mr Navalny, who has been blocked from running in Russia’s March 18 presidential election, called for nationwide protests on Sunday.

Sizeable gatherings have been reported in the Far East and Siberia, including Vladivostok, and more are set for Moscow and St Petersburg in the afternoon. </s> A still image taken from a video footage shows Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny being detained by Interior Ministry members during a rally for a boycott of a March 18 presidential election in Moscow, Russia January 28, 2018. NAVALNY.COM/Handout/Reuters TV via REUTERS

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was released from police custody late on Sunday after a brief appearance at a rally in Moscow calling for the boycott of a March presidential election that he said would be a rigged.

Navalny’s lawyer, Olga Mikhailova, told Reuters that her client had been released without charge but would have to face court at a later date.

If charged with violating laws on holding demonstrations, Navalny could face up to 30 days in jail. </s> Election body says Alexei Navalny ineligible to run in 2018 presidential vote due to suspended five-year jail sentence.

Russia's electoral body has announced that Alexei Navalny, the opposition leader, is barred from challenging President Vladimir Putin in next year's elections.

In a statement released on Friday, the Central Electoral Commission said Navalny is "not eligible to stand for office" because he is currently serving a five-year suspended sentence for embezzlement.

The body said people convicted of such crimes cannot stand for public office until 10 years after their sentence ends.

Speaking to AFP news agency, Nikolai Lyaskin, Navalny's campaign manager, said the decision was unconstitutional.

"According to the constitution, any citizen who is not in prison is eligible to stand for public office," he said.

Navalny ran in the 2013 Moscow local elections, coming second against a Kremlin-backed incumbent with a Western-style campaign and a message of snuffing out corruption.

Navalny was allowed to compete in that race as he was appealing his first 2013 conviction.

The European Court of Human Rights last year quashed the verdict, saying Navalny and his former business partner did not have a fair trial.

Navalny and his supporters condemned the trial as politically motivated.

The Russian court held a retrial this year, issuing the same sentence. A regional court later upheld the sentence.

Putin is expected to stand for a fourth Kremlin term in the March 2018 election, but has yet to confirm this.

The nomination of candidates will begin this December.

The opposition is already opening campaign offices across the country to register supporters for its presidential bid.

A presidential candidate is required to obtain 300,000 signatures of support in the space of 40 days later this year in order to enter the race.

Navalny's campaign has been marked with controversy. In one incident, an attacker threw green dye at his face, causing eye damage.

The campaign's rented office in Moscow also had its electricity switched off just days after its launch.

He is currently serving a 30-day sentence in police cells as the organiser of an unauthorised protest after he called anti-corruption demonstrations on June 12 that saw more than 1,700 people detained nationwide. </s> MOSCOW(Sputnik) — Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny is not currently entitled to run in elections due to his conviction, the Central Election Commission (CEC) said in a statement Friday.

"According to available information, on February 8, 2017, Navalny A. was sentenced under part 3 of Article 33, part 4 of Article 160 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation to five years of imprisonment with a fine of 500,000 rubles, the sentence was suspended with a probation period of 1 year 5 months (the sentence entered into force). Thus, at the moment A. Navalny does not have the right to be elected," the statement said. </s> Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been barred from running for presidency in Russia’s 2018 election because he is currently serving a suspended sentence.

 Russia’s Central Election Commission made the announcement in a statement published on Friday, saying that Navalny was not eligible to stand for office because of currently serving a five-year suspended sentence for embezzlement.

 “According to available information, on February 8, 2017, Navalny A. was sentenced under… the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation to five years of imprisonment with a fine of 500,000 rubles [$8,400], the sentence was suspended with a probation period of 1 year 5 months. Thus, at the moment A. Navalny does not have the right to be elected,” the statement said.

 The electoral body said that embezzlement charges fell into the category of a serious crime and individuals convicted of such crimes could not stand for public office until 10 years after their sentence ended.

 Rejecting the ruling, Nikolai Lyaskin, Navalny’s campaign manager, claimed, “According to the constitution, any citizen who is not in prison is eligible to stand for public office.—Agencies </s> Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was released from police custody on Sunday after he was arrested during a day of nationwide protests against President Vladimir Putin.

Navalny, 41, was "released without charge," his lawyer, Olga Mikhailova, told Reuters. She noted her client would have to face court at another time.

Russian police reportedly wrestled Navalny into a patrol car in Moscow on Sunday moments after the anti-corruption campaigner appeared at a rally urging voters to boycott what he said would be a rigged presidential election in March. Putin is running for a fourth term.

Video showed Navalny walking a short distance when he was surrounded by helmet-clad police officers, according to Reuters. They wrestled him to the ground on the pavement, and then dragged him feet first into the patrol wagon.

Navalny urged supporters to continue the demonstrations despite his arrest.

He said on Twitter, "they have detained me. This doesn't mean anything ... you didn't come out for me, but for your future."

Navalny was denied permission to be a presidential candidate because of an embezzlement conviction in a case widely seen as politically motivated.

Earlier on Sunday police raided Navalny’s campaign office in Moscow.

A video stream Sunday morning from Navalny's headquarters showed police entering the office. One broadcaster on the stream said police apparently were using a grinder to try to get access to the broadcast studio.

The anchors said police say they had come because of a bomb threat.

Thousands of people braving the cold demonstrated in Moscow and other cities, including St. Petersburg.

The OVD-Info group, which monitors political arrests, reported scores of demonstrators had been detained at protests in cities including Murmansk, Ufa and Kemerovo.

Several hundred demonstrators assembled in the Pacific port city of Vladivostok, complaining both of Putin's rule and of Navalny's exclusion from the March 18 presidential election.

"They took these elections away from us, they took away our votes. Our candidate was not allowed to run," said Vladivostok demonstrator Dmitri Kutyaev.

Fox News' Nicole Darrah and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is formally barred by the Central Election Commission from his running in next year's presidential election.