Russia's opposition leader Alexei Navalny released after month in prison

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been released after spending a month in jail for calling for an unsanctioned protest.

Mr Navalny walked free on Friday and vowed to keep protesting against the Russian government.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny speaks to the media (Dmitri Serebryakov?AP)

One of these rallies was the largest anti-government protest that Moscow had seen in eight years.

Authorities have clamped down on the protests, refusing to give permission for them, briefly detaining 1,400 people and arresting dozens of protest leaders, including Mr Navalny.

Some of the independent city council candidates were sentenced to several back-to-back short stints in jail.- Press Association