Vladimir Putin’s critic Alexei Navalny detained before Moscow protest – UPDATE
Police detained Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny at the entrance of his home on Monday, just before an unsanctioned rally he was going to hold in central Moscow, but the protest will still go ahead, his wife said on Twitter.
Electricity in Navalny’s office was switched off, his spokeswoman said in a separate Twitter message. A live Internet feed run from Navalny’s office went off the air.
UPDATE: A Russian court on Tuesday sentenced Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny to 30 days in prison for repeatedly violating the law on organising public meetings, a Reuters journalist reported.
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UPDATE: White Houses says that the United States condemns the Russian crackdown on peaceful protesters and calls for their release.
UPDATE: Russian police detained at least 118 protesters in central Moscow where thousands had turned up to demonstrate against official corruption, according to Reuters.
Russian prosecutors warned opposition leader Alexei Navalny not to hold an unsanctioned rally on the city’s central Tverskaya Street on Monday, adding that police were ready to break up “provocations and mass disorder”.
Navalny, who has called for nationwide anti-corruption protests on June 12, changed the venue of the Moscow rally to Tverskaya Street close to the Kremlin late last night. He said the authorities had prevented him from renting sound equipment needed for a sanctioned rally in a separate location.
Lots of riot police and helicopter over protest location in central Moscow pic.twitter.com/y1yHzUy5i7
— Will Vernon (@BBCWillVernon) June 12, 2017
Police in riot gear started detaining anti-Kremlin protesters in Moscow’s central Pushkin Square, while using loud hailers to tell them to disperse, Reuters witnesses said.
Surreal doesn't even begin to describe the scene at today's protests in moscow pic.twitter.com/aiz50tAJYx
— Noah Sneider (@NoahSneider) June 12, 2017
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Around 1,000 protesters started to move from the square towards the Kremlin, but their path was blocked by police barriers put in place as part of a festival of historical costumes on Tverskaya Street, Moscow’s central thoroughfare.
Dozens arrested at Moscow protest https://t.co/V5oTPmK20P ^RTE pic.twitter.com/XY0gd4OQoB
— …david jones (@_dpaj) June 12, 2017
A Reuters journalist at the scene saw about 15 people detained by police.
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