Police detained hundreds of protesters at an opposition gathering in Moscow on Saturday, as authorities upped the pressure on top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny by launching a criminal probe into his anti-graft group. Crowds of people marched in the capital's central boulevards for a protest "stroll" over the refusal by officials to let a number of opposition candidates run in September polls for city parliament seats.
Most of those candidates and opposition leaders, including Navalny, are being held by police following a protest rally last weekend, in which 1,400 demonstrators were detained - one of the biggest crackdowns in years. On Saturday, riot police were deployed in large numbers in central Moscow, some shops and cafes were shut, metal barriers were erected and the mobile internet was down for many hours.
Some 600 people were detained in course of the rally, police and the independent protest monitor OVD-Info said. Some were journalists with accreditations. Police said only 1,500 people took part in the gathering. AFP correspondents said the figure was much higher but a precise estimate was difficult as the protest was spread over several neighborhoods.
AFP observed dozens of arrests along the route of the protest, as lines of police broke up the flow of the crowd by blocking it with a human chain and grabbing people indiscriminately. "They came and took seven people right in front of me," said 50-year-old Olga Yakovleva sitting on a bench on a square along the protest route. "I lost the power of speech... it was just people sitting and talking."
Lyubov Sobol, an ally of key opposition leader Navalny and currently three weeks into a hunger strike after being barred from taking part in the election, was dragged from a taxi and detained Saturday as she set off for the rally. Many opposition leaders who attempted to run in the polls next month argue that the authorities have arbitrarily declared signatures they gathered to qualify invalid.
People in the crowd on Saturday said they just wanted the opposition to have a chance to compete. "I believe everyone should have a right to take part" in the polls, 39-year-old Robert told AFP. Since last weekend police have been using force against Moscow protesters, with footage surfacing of officers in riot gear beating people prostrated on the pavement with batons. Officers on Saturday wore masks to prevent activists from identifying them on photos and videos.
Authorities have launched investigations into last weekend's "mass riots" and "violence against police", echoing similar probes into protests against President Vladimir Putin in 2012 which saw several people jailed. Protestors insist their actions are strictly peaceful, and there have been no reports of damaged property.
In the polls in September, the opposition hopes to end the monopoly of Kremlin loyalists in Moscow's parliament. The body decides the city's multi-billion-dollar budget but lacks political independence from mayor Sergei Sobyanin, an ally of Putin. Sobyanin has warned the opposition against "new provocations".
Navalny and other protest leaders say corruption is rife in the capital. His anti-corruption foundation FBK this week published a new investigation into Sobyanin's deputy, accusing her of selling prime Moscow property to family members at rock-bottom prices. On Saturday, FBK, which previously made other high-profile investigations into the questionable wealth of top officials, became a target of a new probe into "laundering" a billion rubles ($15.3 million).
Comments
Comments are closed.