Russian police detain opposition leader, hundreds of protesters

[webfact]

Russian police detain opposition leader, hundreds of protesters

By Denis Pinchuk and Natalia Shurmina

REUTERS

 

Anti-corruption campaigner and opposition figure Alexei Navalny sits inside a police van after being detained during a rally in Moscow, Russia, March 26, 2017. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

 

MOSCOW/YEKATERINBURG (Reuters) - Police detained hundreds of protesters across Russia on Sunday, including opposition leader Alexei Navalny, after thousands took to the streets to demonstrate against corruption and demand the resignation of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

 

The protests, reckoned to be the biggest since a wave of anti-Kremlin demonstrations in 2011/2012, come a year before a presidential election which Vladimir Putin is expected to contest, running for what would be a fourth term.

 

Opinion polls suggest the liberal opposition, which Navalny represents, have little chance of fielding a candidate capable of unseating Putin, who enjoys high ratings. But Navalny and his supporters hope to channel public discontent over official corruption to attract more support.

 

A Reuters reporter saw police detain Navalny, who hopes to run against Putin, as he walked along central Moscow's Tverskaya Street with supporters, part of an unsanctioned rally as a police helicopter circled overhead.

 

Police put Navalny in a truck around which hundreds of protesters crowded, trying to open its doors.

 

"I'm happy that so many people came out (onto the streets) from the east (of the country) to Moscow," Navalny said, moments before he was detained.

 

The Kremlin said on Friday that plans for the central Moscow protest, which the city's authorities had rejected, were an illegal provocation.

 

Grigory Okhotin, one of the founders of OVD Info, a human rights organisation which monitors detentions, said around 600 people had been detained in Moscow on Sunday.

 

Police said around 7,000-8,000 people were on Tverskaya Street and surrounding areas by mid-afternoon and put the number of detentions by late afternoon at around 500.

 

As evening drew in, hundreds of riot police lined up on Manezh Square at the end of Tverskaya Street and drove protesters away from the Kremlin's walls. Some opposition supporters on Manezh Square shouted "Putin is a thief" as tourists wandered nearby.

 

Navalny called the protests after publishing allegations that Medvedev, the prime minister and former president, had amassed a huge fortune that far outstripped his official salary.

 

Medvedev's spokeswoman called the allegations "propagandistic attacks" unworthy of detailed comment and said they amounted to pre-election posturing by Navalny.

 

Elsewhere, at a rally in the far eastern city of Vladivostok, a Reuters reporter saw 30 people being detained after unfurling banners reading "The prime minister should answer".

 

"I've come out (to protest) against corruption and want the authorities to answer the accusations in the Navalny film," 17-year-old student Denis Korneev said at the Moscow protest.

 

"In many countries the government would have resigned over this."

 

Witnesses told Reuters that four people were also detained at a rally in Yekaterinburg in the industrial Urals region.

 

On Yekaterinburg's Labour Square protesters waved posters reading "We are the authorities here" while nationalists and supporters of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party looked on.

 

Local media reported that large protests also took place in other cities, including St Petersburg and Novosibirsk. State media broadly ignored Sunday's protests.

 

(Additional reporting by Anton Zverev and Svetlana Reiter in Moscow and by Alexei Chernyshov in Vladivostok; Writing by Alexander Winning; Editing by Andrew Osborn and Catherine Evans)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-03-27

[Colabamumbai]

Russia=Cambodia kill the opposition.

[Wilsonandson]

Some opposition supporters on Manezh Square shouted "Putin is a thief" as tourists wandered nearby.

 

Navalny called the protests after publishing allegations that Medvedev, the prime minister and former president, had amassed a huge fortune that far outstripped his official salary.

 

Some say that Putin has a personal fortune ranging between 40-80 Billion USD. Getting rid of Putin will be a difficult task especially now he controls all Russian media. Pro Putin news has made him a hero in Russia.

[Guest]

The notable thing about these protests is that it was not held at just Moscow and St Petersbourg,  but all around the country.

 

Russian police beating protesters, while crowd is booing.

https://russia.liveuamap.com/en/2017/26-march-video-police-beating-protester-laying-on-the-ground

 

One of the iconic photos of yesterday. Young woman detained by the Putin's troops / police.

The protesters are not thugs, but well educated younger generation, who wish the end of Putin's KGB style era. They want real democracy in their own country. 

 

Go real Russia. The world is on your side.

[elgordo38]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Opinion polls suggest the liberal opposition, which Navalny represents, have little chance of fielding a candidate capable of unseating Putin, who enjoys high ratings.

Trumpamania there as well. OOOppps sorry Putinamania. 

[elgordo38]

They must have caught Navalny spitting on the sidewalk again. 

[elgordo38]

3 hours ago, oilinki said:

The notable thing about these protests is that it was not held at just Moscow and St Petersbourg,  but all around the country.

 

Russian police beating protesters, while crowd is booing.

https://russia.liveuamap.com/en/2017/26-march-video-police-beating-protester-laying-on-the-ground

 

One of the iconic photos of yesterday. Young woman detained by the Putin's troops / police.

The protesters are not thugs, but well educated younger generation, who wish the end of Putin's KGB style era. They want real democracy in their own country. 

 

Go real Russia. The world is on your side.

Your not just looking at demonstrators being man handled in Russia it is coming soon to your country so be prepared. P.S. When demonstrating it is advisable not to wear a short skirt. 

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, elgordo38 said:

Your not just looking at demonstrators being man handled in Russia it is coming soon to your country so be prepared. P.S. When demonstrating it is advisable not to wear a short skirt. 

I don't understand.

[elgordo38]

Just now, oilinki said:

I don't understand.

Coming soon to your country like get ready to be manhandled in the same manner. Like the girl in the picture don't wear a short skirt when the Putin police grab or your local police mafia grab you they may grab tooo high up the thigh. Its also a distraction to good honest police trying to do their job. Glad to explain. 

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, elgordo38 said:

Coming soon to your country like get ready to be manhandled in the same manner. Like the girl in the picture don't wear a short skirt when the Putin police grab or your local police mafia grab you they may grab tooo high up the thigh. Its also a distraction to good honest police trying to do their job. Glad to explain. 

Hmm.. I still see variety of options here.

 

- Russia is going to occupy / annex my country 

- My country is turning into dictatorship police state

- The whole world is turning into one

 

The cost for Putin's troops to try to occupy my country is simply too high for Russia. Even if they should succeed, it would be just the start without end in sight.  

Anyway it seems that the internal tension is rising inside Russia. Time will tell how it will end.

Edited March 27, 2017 by Guest

[elgordo38]

1 minute ago, oilinki said:

Hmm.. I still see variety of options here.

 

- Russia is going to occupy / annex my country 

- My country is turning into dictatorship police state

- The whole world is turning into one

 

The cost for Putin's troops to try to occupy my country is simply too high for Russia. Even if they should succeed, it would be just the start without end in sight.  

Well you sorted that one by yourself. Number one is out of the question but 2 and 3 are in play. Did you get the short skirts part OK

[Guest]

Just now, elgordo38 said:

Well you sorted that one by yourself. Number one is out of the question but 2 and 3 are in play. Did you get the short skirts part OK

It's true that I sometimes use towel as skirt while in home. But as I'm not Scottish, I restrict this behaviour strictly within home environment.

[elgordo38]

2 minutes ago, oilinki said:

It's true that I sometimes use towel as skirt while in home. But as I'm not Scottish, I restrict this behaviour strictly within home environment.

Your not getting my point its the picture of the Russian girl being manhandled by the Russian Gestapo. Observe the shortness of the skirt. Observe the positioning of the Hooded hoodlum's hand and then connect the dots. Unleash your imagination and let it run wild!! Forget the Toga party and Scottish connection. 

Edited March 27, 2017 by elgordo38

[Guest]

51 minutes ago, elgordo38 said:

Your not getting my point its the picture of the Russian girl being manhandled by the Russian Gestapo. Observe the shortness of the skirt. Observe the positioning of the Hooded hoodlum's hand and then connect the dots. Unleash your imagination and let it run wild!! Forget the Toga party and Scottish connection. 

Different countries behave differently.

 

I find it difficult to see that one of the most stable countries would turn into the mess Russia is today. I believe that education and healthy self respect & respect of others are good ways to prevent society to sink under authoritarian rule.