More than 20,000 demonstrators took to the streets yesterday in Moscow for a free municipal election.
The participants, among them the prominent Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, yesterday protested in the center of the Russian capital against the exclusion of dozens of opposition candidates for the vote scheduled for September. Several people were arrested.
According to the NGO White Counter, more than 22,000 people followed the appeal. The police, who generally call for lower numbers of participants in opposition demonstrations, spoke of 12,000 participants.
„Russia will be free“
The demonstrators shouted at the approximately two-hour rally, among other things, „Russia will be free“. According to the NGO OWD-Info, the police arrested several people and broke a protester’s arm. Among the participants were also several opposition politicians. „We will show them that this is a dangerous game,“ said opposition leader Nawalny in a speech to the demonstrators. „We should fight for our candidates.“
The Moscow Electoral Commission had last excluded 57 candidates from the vote, including almost all opposition supporters. The authority justified this with formal defects. Observers criticized the fact that the refusals were partly made on flimsy grounds to prevent Nawalny’s allies from applying for the legislature of the Russian capital.
