Moscow police arrest more than 1,300 at rally
MOSCOW » Lines of riot police officers in body armor and helmets blocked the streets of central Moscow on Saturday, arresting more than 1,300 demonstrators — chasing some of them down alleys — to blunt a protest over the fairness of coming city elections.
“We love Russia! They love money!” protesters chanted, a reference to widespread anger over government corruption. Others sat in the streets, awaiting arrest and reading copies of the constitution.
The spark for Saturday’s protest was a decision by election authorities to bar several opposition candidates from running for Moscow’s City Council, asserting that they had falsified signatures on petitions to run — a charge the candidates denied.
An independent monitoring group said more than 1,300 people were arrested near City Hall, the intended site of the rally, although many never made it there. As in past protests, authorities began making arrests blocks away so a large crowd could not form. The protest, which was not authorized by the government, was the latest in a series of street demonstrations staged as President Vladimir Putin’s approval ratings have dipped amid economic hardship.
The authorities were prepared to suppress Saturday’s rally and its leaders.
Alexei Navalny, the opposition leader who had called the demonstration, was arrested Wednesday and sentenced to 30 days in jail. Other prominent opposition politicians — including Ilya Yashin, Dmitry Gudkov and Ivan Zhdanov — were also rounded up before the event and released only late in the evening.
“It is horrible. My feeling is that we live under an occupation,” said Nadezhda Pilinskaya, 59, referring to the heavy police presence in the city center. “They fear that the end is coming, the end of this regime.”
Pilinskaya, a retired entrepreneur, added, “We will have nobody to choose from on Election Day.”
At stake in the Sept. 8 election are the 45 seats on the Moscow City Council, which is responsible for a large municipal budget and is controlled by the prokremlin United Russia party. Election officials have so far registered nearly 200 candidates, most of whom are largely supportive of Putin.