MOSCOW – The Russian police have detained opposition leader Alexei Navalnyduring a Boycott rally in Moscow today. Alexei Navalny was taken intocustody minutes after he appeared for the rally to urge voters to boycottthe upcoming Russian elections.
Presidential elections are set to be held in Russia in March this year.Vladimir Putin is expected to win the election with a vast majority. AlexeiNavalny alleges that the presidential elections will be rigged and thusurged people to boycott the elections.
Although the number of people gathered for Navalny’s rallies across thecountry was way less than his previous rallies, Navalny is considered theonly person who can give a competition to the incumbent President Putin.
The numbers who showed up at protests across Russia on Sunday — someshouting “Putin is a thief” — were lower than previous demonstrationsNavalny had staged, according to estimates from Reuters reporters,indicating the momentum may have shifted away from him.
Navalny was taken in by the police and will be booked for violating laws onholding demonstrations. He can face a jail sentence of maximum 30 days.
Some 1,500 protesters accumulated at Manezh Square on Sunday. The crowd wasblocked by the police in riot gear. The crowd, thus, split up and headed inseveral directions. The numbers fell significantly as night fell.
Similarly, hundreds of people protested in St. Petersburg, Russia’ssecond-biggest city, in Yekaterinburg in the Ural mountains, and othermajor – Agencies