Moscow police have forcibly dispersed three separate picket actions in support of jailed Russian opposition leaders.
At least 10 of the participants were detained during the January 5 confrontations, including Sergei Udaltsov, leader of the Left Front, and Mikhail Shneyder of the Solidarity movement.
Shneyder told RFE/RL's Russian Service that the detainees were all released but must appear in court on January 6.
Udaltsov was reportedly detained while holding a sign during a single picket, when no more than one individual at a time participates in order to avoid frequently invoked laws on unauthorized rallies. He accused nearby "provocateurs" of lifting signs while he was speaking in an effort to give police grounds to detain him, according to RFE/RL's Russian Service.
The individuals who raised their own signs were from a group called "Young Russia."
There were allegations by opposition members of provocateurs involved in other detentions as well.
Konstantin Kosyakin, Boris Nemtsov, Ilya Yashin, and Eduard Limonov were detained during opposition rallies in Moscow on December 31 and subsequently sentenced to between five days and two weeks of administrative arrest for refusing to follow police orders.
The pickets were not the first demonstration against the earlier opposition arrests. On January 4, police briefly detained 35 protest participants.
compiled from RFE/RL and agency reports
At least 10 of the participants were detained during the January 5 confrontations, including Sergei Udaltsov, leader of the Left Front, and Mikhail Shneyder of the Solidarity movement.
Shneyder told RFE/RL's Russian Service that the detainees were all released but must appear in court on January 6.
Udaltsov was reportedly detained while holding a sign during a single picket, when no more than one individual at a time participates in order to avoid frequently invoked laws on unauthorized rallies. He accused nearby "provocateurs" of lifting signs while he was speaking in an effort to give police grounds to detain him, according to RFE/RL's Russian Service.
The individuals who raised their own signs were from a group called "Young Russia."
There were allegations by opposition members of provocateurs involved in other detentions as well.
Konstantin Kosyakin, Boris Nemtsov, Ilya Yashin, and Eduard Limonov were detained during opposition rallies in Moscow on December 31 and subsequently sentenced to between five days and two weeks of administrative arrest for refusing to follow police orders.
The pickets were not the first demonstration against the earlier opposition arrests. On January 4, police briefly detained 35 protest participants.
compiled from RFE/RL and agency reports