MOSCOW -- Russian opposition politician and anticorruption blogger Aleksei Navalny has been sentenced to 10 days in jail after being found guilty of breaking the law while attending an unsanctioned protest intended to maintain pressure on the authorities following the arrest of a journalist in June.
A Moscow court ruled on July 1 that Navalny had repeatedly violated the law by organizing and participating in public events and sentenced him the same day.
In a tweet, Navalny described the sentence as "unpleasant" and based on "arbitrary" charges, but said: "I think I did the right thing. If we remain silent and stay home, the arbitrariness will never stop."
INFOGRAPHIC: All The Times Aleksei Navalny Has Been In Prison (click to view)
Investigators say Navalny chanted political slogans on June 12 while taking part in a march in Moscow to support investigative journalist Ivan Golunov, who had been arrested earlier in the month on a drug charge that was widely considered to have been fabricated. He was among more than 200 people detained for participating in a public gathering that was not permitted by city authorities.
In a surprising reversal, Golunov was released on June 11 and the charges against him dropped.
It is the first jail sentence against Navalny, a vocal Kremlin foe, this year. He has been sentenced to jail 12 times in recent years, for which he has served more than 200 days in incarceration.
The sentence comes as members of his Anti-Corruption Foundation have faced arrest, charges, and jail sentences on a nearly daily basis in Russia.