Almost 200 people were beaten and detained by police at
protest rallies against President Vladimir Putin in St.
Petersburg on Sunday.
Boris Nemtsov and Nikita Belykh, leaders of the Union of
Right Forces (SPS) party were also detained by police. They both are running in
the parliamentary election on December 2. Later on they were released.
Opposition activists were beaten by police with batons and
their fists and they were forced into police vans, Reuters reports.
At the Winter Palace
dozens more were detained as well as at another rally in the central St.
Petersburg.
Nemtsov addressed to the crowd saying: "They have forbidden
us from discussing Putin. But we have come here today to ask Mr. Putin and the
authorities why there is so much corruption in the country?"
Nemtsov said that his detention was against the Russian law
which doesn’t allow police to detain candidates.
He said: "Putin has total disregard for the country's
constitution and laws. He is afraid the people will find out the truth and so
he hides behind the riot police."
Almost 500 activists participated at the rallies. They were
outnumbered by police officers.
Those who were detained were later released, according to
the organizers.
The rallies were not authorized by the city authorities and
the streets in the city center were blocked by police.
This march, known as the "march of the discontented”
gathers in one movement Putin’s opponents. This includes Other Russia, free-market
parties and Yabloko.
On Saturday police detained Garry Kasparov, Other Russia
leader and former world chess champion, in a march of about 3,000 people in Moscow.
Opponents of Putin accuse him of cracking down on the
freedoms gained after the Soviet Union fell in 1991.
They say that Putin created an unstable political system that is depended on
him alone.
According to the Kremlin officials the rallies are in order to
attract the attention of the West and that they have little public support.
Putin said that he will step down as president next year
after two consecutive terms.
Still, he said that he will preserve influence through the
pro-Kremlin United Russia party.
In December election he runs as the top candidate of the
party.
