MOSCOW: Thousands gathered in Moscow on Sunday for a demonstration demanding the release of opposition protesters prosecuted in recent months.
Police estimated a turnout of 20,000 at the Sakharov Avenue in central Moscow about half an hour after the start of the protest, which was authorised.
The demonstrators chanted “let them go” and brandished placards demanding a halt to “repressions” of opposition protesters.
Several protesters who were charged but freed in recent weeks thanked the crowd for putting pressure on the authorities.
“We have to keep demanding to respect our rights, because they have left us no choice but to protest in the streets,” said opposition leader Lyubov Sobol.
The current wave of demonstrations was triggered by the refusal of Moscow authorities to allow opposition activists like Sobol, an associate of top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, participate in local elections.
The sweeping, sometimes violent crackdown on protests backfired when crowds of many as 50,000 began to gather with wider political demands while the opposition gained dozens of seats in city parliament.
— AFP
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