Russia: Left Front leader sentenced to 10 days in jail

A Moscow court jailed Russian opposition Left Front group leader Sergei Udaltsov for a further ten days following 15 days already spent in jail, during which he went on hunger strike.Udaltsov was arrested in a rally that protested against rigging on election day Dec. 04. He was initially sentenced to five days in jail, but his sentence was later extended for another 15 days.Udaltsov was hospitalised during his hunger strike. His lawyer and his wife said his health was in a critical condition.On Sunday, the day he should have been released, he was admitted to the court by police and was sentenced to ten days in jail for disobedience to police during a protest he staged on October 24 against what he called upcoming parliamentary election fraud and unfair barring of real opposition parties from the vote.His supporters said on Sunday his new term in prison contradicts the law.This is just a reprisal against an opposition activist. And what is going on now is quite weird because on the one hand the Kremlin is saying that it is worried about possible disorders but on the other hand they are doing everything to cause these disorders. Todays absolutely unlawful court decision is a step in this direction, prominent opposition blogger Alexei Navalny told Reuters.Former world chess champion and one of the current opposition leaders in Russia, Gary Kasparov, who came to the court to support Udaltsov, said the Left Front leaders arrest was a disgrace for current Russian rulers. This comes just a day after tens of thousands of people across Russia staged protests calling for new parliamentary elections and an end to Prime Minister Vladimir Putins rule.