At least 89 were detained by police about an hour into the rally, according to OVD-Info
\nnews desk
\nMOSCOW
\nPolice detained dozens of demonstrators in Moscow on Saturday as Russian opposition supporters took to the streets in defiance of a formidable security presence, in fresh protests calling for fair elections in the capital next month.
\nThe unauthorized march, which comes after stark warnings from Russian authorities and a crackdown on Kremlin critics, was billed as a \u201cstroll\u201d along Moscow\u2019s leafy boulevards as anger grows over the refusal of officials to let popular opposition candidates run in next month\u2019s city parliament elections.
\nMost of those candidates and opposition leaders are still in police detention following the last rally, as what began as a local issue has boiled over into one of the worst political conflicts of recent years.
\nAt least 89 were detained by police about an hour into the rally, according to OVD-Info, a non-governmental organization that operates a hotline for detainees. AFP correspondents also observed several arrests.
\nLyubov Sobol, an ally of key opposition leader Alexei Navalny, was detained as she set off for the rally. \u201cWhy are you detaining me?\u201d she shouted as riot police in helmets dragged her out of a taxi.
\nSobol is on the 21st day of a hunger strike that she began after authorities barred her from running in the polls and was visibly weak. Heavy police presence, metal barriers and empty buses used to transport detainees lined the boulevards, and mobile Internet was down in central Moscow.
\nSome shops and cafes were shut Saturday following warnings by city authorities. Amount of police appeared to outnumber small groups of protesters. About a hundred people were pushed out from central Trubnaya square by a line of riot police. Several hundred more were spread out along the boulevards.
\n\u201cI\u2019m here because I want them to let candidates take part in the elections,\u201d 22-year-old artist Varvara told AFP. \u201cI want there to be big changes… now there is an atmosphere of total control.\u201d
\nAt least six people were detained about 30 minutes after the planned start of the rally, according to OVD-Info website.
\nCandidates for September elections needed to collect signatures from city residents to stand in the polls but officials said they were disqualified because some names were forged.
\nThe opposition insists it was blocked from running arbitrarily, and the whole vetting process was skewed against them. Many Muscovites said their signatures in support of opposition candidates were declared invalid for no reason, and attempts to verify them were ignored.
\nPresident Vladimir Putin has yet to comment on the situation in Moscow. In the polls in September, the opposition hopes to end the monopoly of Kremlin loyalists in Moscow\u2019s parliament
\nThe body decides the city\u2019s multi-billion-dollar budget but lacks political independence from mayor Sergei Sobyanin, an ally of Putin.
\nSobyanin has warned the opposition against \u201cnew provocations.\u201d Navalny and other protest leaders argue corruption is rife in the capital.
\nNavalny, currently in jail, was rushed to hospital last weekend in an incident his personal doctor blamed on possible poisoning with an unknown chemical substance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
At least 89 were detained by police about an hour into the rally, according to OVD-Info news desk MOSCOW Police detained dozens of demonstrators in Moscow on Saturday as Russian opposition supporters took to the streets in defiance of a formidable security presence, in fresh protests calling for fair elections in the capital next month. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n