Moscow police arrest nearly 1,100 at opposition protest
MOSCOW — Russian police cracked down on demonstrators Saturday in central Moscow, beating some people and arresting nearly 1,100 who were protesting the exclusion of opposition candidates from the ballot for city council.
Police wrestled with protesters around the mayor’s office, sometimes charging into the crowd of 3,500 with batons raised. State news agencies Tass and RIA-Novosti cited police as saying 1,074 were arrested over the course of the protests, which lasted more than seven hours.
The protesters shouted slogans — including “Russia will be free!” and “Who are you beating?” — and one woman was seen bleeding heavily after being struck on the head.
Several opposition activists who wanted to run for the council were arrested throughout the city before the protest.
Alexei Navalny, Russia’s most prominent opposition figure, was sentenced Wednesday to 30 days in jail for calling an unauthorized protest.
Police barged into Navalny’s video studio as it was conducting a YouTube broadcast of the protest and arrested program leader Vladimir Milonov. Police also searched Dozhd, an internet TV station that was covering the protest, and its editor-inchief was ordered to undergo questioning at the Investigative Committee.
There was no information on what charges the detainees might face.
The Sept. 8 vote for Moscow City Council has shaken up Russia’s political scene as the Kremlin struggles with how to deal with opposing views in its capital of 12.6 million.
The council, which has 45 seats, is responsible for a large municipal budget and is now controlled by the pro-Kremlin United Russia party. All of its seats, which have a five-year-term, are up for grabs.