More than a thousand detained in Moscow in a demonstration called by the imprisoned Navalni against Putin

More than 1,000 people have been arrested in Moscow during the demonstrations that this weekend took place in the Russian capital against President Vladimir Putin. The participants demanded the participation of opponents in the elections to the Moscow local parliament – Navalni has recently been imprisoned again – The Russian authorities had declared this demonstration illegal and tried to prevent its celebration, but several thousand people also showed up, in One of the largest and most determined protests in recent years. Chants of “Russia without Putin” and “Putin Resignation” echoed through central Moscow, as guards in riot gear beat protesters with batons and used force to arrest numerous people. At least one woman was seriously injured in the head, according to first reports. The events of this Saturday show that activists and especially young people are willing to continue pressing for the Kremlin to open the Russian political system to competition, closely The imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalni had called the protest to pressure authorities to allow opposition candidates to stand in the local elections on September 8. The authorities maintain that they were removed from the race because they had not succeeded. a sufficient number of supporting signatures. The opposition has no seats in Parliament and barely appears on state television, the main source of information for many Russians. Polls have shown in the past that public support for Navalni, a lawyer and anti-corruption activist, is less than 10 %.But his supporters claim he won nearly a third of the votes in Moscow’s mayoral race in 2013 and say his movement could advance in the Russian capital if allowed to compete on a level playing field. still high, well above 60%, it has fallen due to discontent over an unpopular pension reform and declining income in recent years. Last year, the 66-year-old former KGB officer was overwhelmingly re-elected for a new six-year term until 2024. OVD-Info, an independent watchdog group, said police had detained at least one 1,067 people before or during the protests. In similar situations that occurred in the past, many of those arrested were released within hours. Police estimate that more than 3,500 people participated, of which about 700 were journalists and bloggers. Some activists were arrested twice, after being released and later returning to the protest elsewhere. According to Russian law, the place and duration of a demonstration must be agreed in advance with the authorities, something that was not done in this case.