MOSCOW, October 18 (RAPSI, Nikita Shiryayev) – The Tverskoy District Court of Moscow has sentenced Alexey Politikov, a participant of the unauthorized March 26 rally in Moscow, to two years in a penal colony, RAPSI correspondent reports from the courtroom on Wednesday.

The man was found guilty of using force against a representative of authority. Prosecutor asked to sentence Politikov, who pleaded guilty, to two years behind bars.

The court found that during the rally Politikov attacked an officer by grabbing him and trying to throw him on the ground while kicking the officer in the process.

According to police, about 500 people were arrested on March 26 during the unauthorized rally. Overall number of people present in the area at the time was estimated at as high as 8,000 people.

Three participants of the rally have been already sentenced for the use of force against police officers to prison terms ranging from 1.5 to 4 years in prison. One more man has received 8 months in a penal colony settlement.

The Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny, arrested during the rally, claimed that Moscow authorities refused to greenlight the rally in the city’s center and proposed alternative areas only a day before it was to take place. Navalny said that in this case Russian legislation allows organizers to hold an event at the area, which was listed first.