After release he claimed then retracted that jail was refurbished ready for foreign World Cup fans

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny walked free on Thursday after spending 30 days in custody for staging an unsanctioned protest.

Soon after his release Navalny said in an Instagram post that the jail where he was held had received a massive face-lift ahead of the World Cup, apparently in anticipation of arresting rowdy foreign fans.

In a later live broadcast on YouTube, he apologised to the “great number of mass media that reported the claim.”

“All of it, from the first word to the last, was a fabrication,” he said, laughing. “I apologise in front of everyone.”

Navalny had said that the cells had their usual pit latrines replaced with flush toilets, that normally poor rations were replaced with rich menus offering ample choice complete with alcohol-free beer and various desserts and that huge TV sets were put in each cell.

Navalny called a series of rallies in the Russian capital and other cities on 5 May, just before Putin’s inauguration for a new term. Demonstrations under the slogan “He is not our tsar” took place throughout the country.

A court in Moscow convicted Navalny on charges of organising an unauthorised rally and resisting police, and ordered him jailed for 30 days.

The anti-corruption campaigner has served several weeks-long jail terms in the past for organising other protests.