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Russian opposition holds next rally in Moscow

10 March 2012 14:35 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. The next rally of Russian opposition was held in Russian capital Moscow. APA reports quoting â€œRIA Novostiâ€ that the rally was held in New Arbat square under the banner â€œFor Fair Electionsâ€. The organizers said that 25000 people participated in the rally, but police announced about 10000 participants.
â€œWe will continue to demand freedom of speech, snap parliamentary elections and a new presidential vote after the introduction of the new rules. We also demand the end of censorship of the media and release of political prisoners,â€ opposition leader Vladimir Ryzhkov said at the rally.
Speakers at the rally also included opposition leader Sergei Udaltsov, chess player-turned-opposition activist Garry Kasparov, and TV presenter socialite Ksenia Sobchak, as well as several vote monitors. Blogger Alexei Navalny, a darling of the opposition, stood in the crowd, but did not take the stage to speak.
Udaltsov called on the opposition to get a million people to rally before Putin’s inauguration on May 1.
â€œBefore the inauguration, we need a million people to turn out on the street,â€ he told the crowd from the stage, before leading the crowd in a chant of â€œwe are the power!â€
He called on the opposition to rally every week in Moscow’s Pushkin Square before Putin’s inauguration, whether permission is granted for a rally or not. â€œPushkin square has become a symbol of our protest,â€ he said.
Around 250 people were detained on Pushkin Square after an anti-Putin protest earlier this month when they failed to obey police orders to disperse after the allotted time for the demonstration had expired.
A series of mass rallies have been held in Moscow since December, when Putinâ€™s United Russia Party won in parliamentary elections marred by allegations of electoral fraud across the country.