MOSCOW, December 26 - RAPSI. Court bailiffs, who did not allow journalists to attend the sentencing hearing in the case of opposition leader Sergei Udaltsov in a Moscow court, acted within the law, the Federal Bailiff Service reported on Monday.

Sergei Udaltsov, leader of the Left Front movement, was sentenced to a further10 days in prison by the Magistrates court on Sunday for disobeying police during a rally at the Central Election Commission in October. Court bailiffs kept the media away from the sentencing hearing.

Udaltsov had already been sentenced to 15 days in prison previously.

Udaltsov was detained during the parliamentary election in Moscow on December 4. Police said the opposition leader was detained for escaping from the hospital where he was placed under his previous prison sentence. Udaltsov said it was not made clear to him where he should have gone after he left the hospital while he was still serving a part of his sentence

Udaltsov went on hunger strike after he was taken to a pre-trial detention center to serve an administrative arrest sentence, which resulted in him twice being taken to the hospital. He served the rest of his term after leaving the hospital. Udaltsov is now staying in a Moscow hospital.