Moscow rally halted as police arrest protesters
January 1st, 2012 - 8:33 am ICT by IANSLondon, Jan 1 (IANS) Russian police arrested protesters trying to attend a Moscow rally Saturday.
Around a dozen demonstrators were ushered onto police buses in central Moscow by riot police, BBC quoted reports as saying.
According to a RIA Novosti report, the Moscow police detained about 20 people on Triumfalnaya Square.
Police later said “approximately 60″ people were detained. They estimated the total number of protesters at 200 besides 100 accompanying journalists and bloggers.
The rallies, held on the last day of each month with 31 days, defend Article 31 of Russia’s constitution, which guarantees the right of assembly.
Some of the arrested individuals were wearing white ribbons, the sign of an ongoing protest against parliamentary elections won by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s ruling party United Russia.
The detained people included Eduard Limonov, an opposition leader and author who has been detained at several end-of-month rallies calling for more democratic freedoms.
There were also reports of staging of small protests in other Russian cities.
- Anti-Putin protest thwarted by police - Feb 01, 2012
- 100 detained at Moscow rally - Mar 06, 2012
- EU concerned over jailed Russian opposition leaders - May 12, 2012
- Dozens of protesters detained in Russia - Jun 01, 2011
- Russian police arrest 569 people in second night of poll protests - Dec 08, 2011
- Moscow police detain about 100 protesters - Feb 01, 2010
- Anti-Putin protests sweep across Russia - Dec 10, 2011
- Russians protest against 'election fraud' - Dec 06, 2011
- Putin supporters stage massive election rally - Feb 23, 2012
- Motorists circle Moscow in anti-Putin protest - Feb 20, 2012
- US hopes for further 'democratisation' in Russia - May 09, 2012
- Putin returns to Kremlin amid protests (Lead) - May 07, 2012
- Official fired for not sending people to pro-Putin rally - Feb 07, 2012
- Putin wants webcams for presidential polls - Dec 15, 2011
- Russian protests may turn into civil war: Billionaire - Jan 31, 2012
Tags: article 31, central moscow, democratic freedoms, demonstrators, eduard limonov, london jan, moscow police, opposition leader, parliamentary elections, police arrest, protesters, rallies, ria novosti, riot police, ruling party, russian cities, russian police, staging, vladimir putin, white ribbons