Watchdog

One of the Russians who was imprisoned after the May 6, 2012, protest on Moscow's Bolotnaya Square against Russian President Vladimir Putin has been released.

Artyom Savyolev, 35, was released from a prison camp in Ryazan Oblast on December 31 after serving his sentence of two years and seven months.

He was convicted of resisting arrest, charges which he denies.

More than 400 people were detained after violence erupted during the Bolotnaya protest, and several dozen people were prosecuted.

A handful were given jail terms, most prominently, opposition leader Sergei Udaltsov.

He is serving 4 1/2 years in prison on charges of organizing mass disorder.

Savyolev was never a member of any opposition group.

He was one of three Bolotnaya prisoners to be named a "prisoner of conscience" by the rights group Amnesty International.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been named corruption's "person of the year" for 2014 by an international group of investigative journalists.

The Sarajevo-based Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) made the announcement on December 31, noting that Putin "has been a finalist" every year since the "award" began.

"You might consider this a lifetime achievement award," said OCCRP editor Drew Sullivan.

According to the statement, Putin "was recognized for his work in turning Russia into a major money-laundering center for enabling organized crime in Crimea and in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine; for his unblemished record of failing to prosecute criminal activity; and for advancing a government policy of working with and using crime groups."

Runners-up in the competition including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic.