Prisoners’ release: Anti-Putin march in Moscow
Thousands march through Moscow to demand Russia free eight prisoners jailed after a 2012 protest.
MOSCOW:
Thousands of demonstrators marched through Moscow on Sunday to demand Russia free eight prisoners jailed after a 2012 protest against President Vladimir Putin. There was heavy security for the march, with hundreds of police lining the route from Pushkin Square to Turgenev Square, while a helicopter hovered overhead. “Free the political prisoners!” read a large banner at the head of the march, which police said attracted 2,000 protesters. Organisers put the number of participants at 10,000. The march was organised by opposition groups and held days after Russian prosecutors demanded harsh jail sentences of five to six years for the protesters. They were arrested and accused of “mass riots” and violence against police after clashes broke out at a rally ahead of Putin’s inauguration in June 2012.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 3rd, 2014.
Thousands of demonstrators marched through Moscow on Sunday to demand Russia free eight prisoners jailed after a 2012 protest against President Vladimir Putin. There was heavy security for the march, with hundreds of police lining the route from Pushkin Square to Turgenev Square, while a helicopter hovered overhead. “Free the political prisoners!” read a large banner at the head of the march, which police said attracted 2,000 protesters. Organisers put the number of participants at 10,000. The march was organised by opposition groups and held days after Russian prosecutors demanded harsh jail sentences of five to six years for the protesters. They were arrested and accused of “mass riots” and violence against police after clashes broke out at a rally ahead of Putin’s inauguration in June 2012.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 3rd, 2014.