Russian opposition leader released from jail

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was released from jail Sunday after being imprisoned for 50 days for organizing unauthorized protests.

“I think over the 50 days which I spent here, we saw a lot of evidence that this regime has absolutely deteriorated: from failures in foreign intelligence to failures in space industry,” Navalny told reporters after gaining his freedom, The Associated Press reports.

His 50-day period of confinement was two consecutive sentences.

{mosads}Navalny was sentenced to 30 days in August for organizing an earlier protest and 20 days for organizing a protest that occurred while he was in jail.

Both demonstrations pushed back against the Kremlin’s plans to increase the age at which people qualify for state pensions.

Since the protests, the plan has been signed into law, according to the AP.

Navalny previously attempted to run for president, but was stopped from doing so by the Russian Central Election Commission, which cited his conviction in a fraud case. The AP reported the decision was viewed as political retribution.