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Over 1,000 Arrested in anti-Putin Protests in Russia

by Associated Press

   MOSCOW --

   A group that monitors political repression in Russia says more than
   1,000 people have been arrested in a day of nationwide protests against
   the upcoming inauguration of Vladimir Putin for a new six-year term as
   president.

   The OVD-Info group said at least 574 people were arrested in Moscow,
   the Russian capital, where demonstrators on Saturday crowded into one
   of the city's main squares.

   Overall, 1,029 people were arrested in 19 cities, the group reported.

   The demonstrations were called for by anti-corruption campaigner Alexei
   Navalny. He was among those arrested in Moscow and is to be charged
   with resisting police officers, Russian news reports said.

   Police seized Navalny by the arms and legs and carried the thrashing
   activist from Moscow's Pushkin Square, where thousands were gathered
   for an unauthorized protest.

   Demonstrations under the slogan "He is not our czar" took place
   throughout the country, from Yakutsk in the far northeast to St.
   Petersburg and Kaliningrad on the fringes of Europe.

   OVD-Info, an organization that monitors political repression, said more
   than 350 people had been arrested nationwide, but that figure came
   before protests in the western reaches of Russia had ended. The
   Interfax news agency cited a police source as saying more than 140
   people had been arrested just in Moscow alone, where the square was
   cleared after about two hours but demonstrators milled around nearby.

   Navalny was to be charged with organizing an unauthorized meeting,
   Russian news agencies said, though when he would face a judge was not
   immediately clear. Navalny has served several multi-week stretches in
   jail on similar charges.

   In St. Petersburg, police blocked off a stretch of Nevsky Prospekt as a
   crowd of about 1,000 marched along the renowned avenue. Video showed
   some demonstrators being detained.

   Putin is to be inaugurated for a six-year term on Monday after winning
   re-election in March with 77 percent of the vote. Navalny had hoped to
   challenge him on the ballot but was blocked because of a felony
   conviction in a case that supporters regard as falsified in order to
   marginalize him.

   Navalny has called nationwide demonstrations several times in the past
   year, whose turnout has rattled the Kremlin.

   Saturday's protests attracted crowds of hundreds in cities that are far
   remote from Moscow, challenging authorities' contention that Navalny
   and other opposition figures appeal only to a small, largely urban
   elite.