With vigils, oppositionists in Moscow have demonstrated for the release of political prisoners and for free elections. Under close scrutiny of the police, individuals today set themselves up at monuments in the city center for their silent protest to demonstrate against judicial arbitrariness in Russia.
The Moscow authorities had not allowed a protest march and a mass rally by the opposition in the city center. The organizers, including the detained opposition leader Alexei Navalny, had therefore set up these vigils. The police initially did not intervene.
For weeks protests
The Russian capital has been seeing protests for weeks against the exclusion of dozens of opposition candidates in the city council election on 8 September. A week ago, up to 60,000 people gathered in Moscow to demonstrate for the admission of candidates and police violence. The square was now used by the basically systemic Communists and other leftist forces to demonstrate for honest elections. The police spoke of about 4,000 participants.
Unauthorized protests have seen thousands of people temporarily arrested in recent weeks. Human rights activists spoke of disproportionate police violence against peaceful protesters. They also demanded that allegations of incitement to mass riots be dropped.
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