AFP/Moscow
Russian police detained several opposition protesters in central Moscow yesterday as they tried to hold two unsanctioned demonstrations against the jailing of political and other activists.
Ecological activist Yevgenia Chirikova is detained during the rally near the Kremlin
Police detained two activists at a rally on a central square attended by opposition leaders Boris Nemtsov and Sergei Udaltsov. They also detained around 20 others at a picket against the jailing of environmental activists.
Liberal politician Nemtsov along with far-left activist Udaltsov of the Left Front movement spoke at a protest on Pushkin Square calling for the release of political prisoners.
The organisers said the event did not need official sanction because it was not a rally but a meeting with a parliamentary deputy, Gennady Gudkov of the opposition A Just Russia party.
But police said that they detained two people at the event, which they estimated had a turnout of more than 200, after they unfurled protest banners.
The crowd carried white ribbons, the symbol of the opposition movement, and shouted slogans such as “Russia without Putin” and “Time to change the authorities!”
The rally voiced support for businessman Alexei Kozlov, who was sentenced to five years for fraud last week in a case taken up by the opposition after his journalist wife campaigned for his release.
It also brought up the case of anti-Kremlin punk group Pussy Riot, three of whose members are in pre-trial detention and could be jailed for up to seven years for trying to perform in a church.
Activists announced a plan to hold a protest this afternoon outside the offices of the NTV television channel, which aired a documentary claiming the opposition bribed people to attend mass rallies against Putin.
Some in the crowd shouted “Shame on NTV!”
Organisers had planned to campaign for the release of Udaltsov, who on Thursday was sentenced to 10 days in jail for defying police at an earlier rally.
But Udaltsov unexpectedly had his punishment reduced to a 1,000 ruble ($30) fine late on Friday and was able to attend the rally.
He was detained after a March 10 protest against Vladimir Putin’s re-election to a third term as president with over 63% of the vote, following months of mass rallies by the opposition.
Udaltsov has been sentenced earlier to up to 15 days in prison and was hospitalised several times last year after refusing food while in jail. He announced another hunger strike after his latest detention.
Police said they detained more than 20 people at a separate unsanctioned rally earlier yesterday on a square next to the Kremlin. It was called to protest against the detention of environmental activists.
The demonstrators tried to hold a series of single-person pickets, which do not need official sanction, but police grabbed activists and piled them into three buses on the Revolution Square, according to an AFP reporter.
Among those detained was prominent opposition campaigner Yevgenia Chirikova, who later wrote on Twitter that police were charging them with non-criminal public order offences.
The picket, which drew some 50 participants, highlighted the detention of two activists last week who were investigating illegal construction in the southern Krasnodar region that is to host the 2014 Winter Olympics.