MOSCOW, June 20 (RAPSI) - The Meshchansky District Court of Moscow has sentenced four activists who took part in an unauthorized rally at the Japanese embassy to administrative arrests and fines, the court's press secretary Yulia Bocharova told RAPSI on Thursday.

"The court received material concerning four people who were detained for resisting police," Bocharova said. 

She said that Viktor Astakhov was sentenced to 13 days of administrative arrest and Konstantin Makarov to seven days, while Alexander Kurkin and Yevgeny Popov were each fined 1,000 rubles ($31.15).

A source in the police said the detainees are active members of the non-registered party Another Russia, who staged an unauthorized rally and distributed leaflets. The protest reportedly concerned a territorial dispute between Russia and Japan.

Japan claims sovereignty of the four Kuril Islands - Iturup (Etorofu), Kunashir (Kunashiri), Shikotan and Habomai, referring to the bilateral Treaty of Commerce and Navigation (1855). Tokyo said the islands were handed over to the Soviet Union as a condition for a peace treaty between the two countries after World War II. Ultimately, however, Russia did not sign the treaty.

Moscow claims that Russia's sovereignty over the territory, which was acknowledged internationally, is indisputable.