Hundreds detained as protesters clash with Moscow police (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

May 6th, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

Demonstrators have clashed with police at a rally organized by the opposition on Bolotnaya Square after several dozen protesters, including opposition leaders, broke from the crowd to organize a sit-down strike.

Scores of demonstrators attempted to join the group and broke the police cordon. Clashes have erupted in several places at Bolotnaya Square.

Police have been containing the crowd using only batons.

Security forces did not use tear gas at the rally, a police spokesperson said, adding that some demonstrators in the crowd had pepper spray.

“What police had in their hands were fire extinguishers, which they used once to douse a fire when provocateurs began setting fires,” she said.

Shortly afterwards, police detained prominent opposition figures Sergey Udaltsov, Boris Nemtsov and Aleksey Navalny as they were trying to address demonstrators. They were arrested for “provocation,” a police spokesman told Interfax.

The three have been charged with insubordination to authorities, which stipulates up to 15 days of detention.

More than 400 people have been arrested for illegal actions in and around Bolotnaya Square, say police.

Twenty policemen have been injured over the course of the demonstration. Three of them have been taken to hospital.

Medical officials also say seventeen demonstrators asked for medical assistance.

There was one accidental death during the rally when a photographer fell off a balcony while trying to take a long shot of the demonstration. The man died instantly.

There has also been a report of a Molotov cocktail being thrown by someone in the crowd. Burning liquid splashed on a demonstrator, starting a fire, which was immediately doused.

The rally was shut down by police due to violations of rally regulations.

Security forces have organized a special corridor through which people can leave Bolotnaya Square. Police addressed the crowd, urging demonstrators to leave.

Provocations from some oppositionists as well as police errors were the main reasons behind the clashes and arrests on Bolotnaya, said Russia’s Human Rights Ombudsman, Vladimir Lukin.

He claimed that the responsibility for the situation lay with those who began the sit-down strike, adding that it was nothing other than “provocation.”

The unrest during the opposition rally on Sunday is in stark contrast to previous opposition rallies in Moscow, which until now have been completely peaceful. The rallies started taking place in December after the parliamentary elections.

Watch more in RT’s report

The route of the march was initially intended to have been the same as the February 4 protest – from Kaluzhskaya Square down Yakimanka Street to Bolotnaya Square.

The Left Front political movement and their allies, who are behind the rally, believe that both the parliamentary and presidential elections, which took place in Russia recently, were rigged.

They demand greater liberalization of the electoral laws compared to the reform taken by the government in response to the rise of the opposition moods. They also want a new parliamentary election before 2013 and new presidential ballot in spring 2013.

A separate opposition group wanted to hold a rally in Manezhnaya (Manege) Square in Moscow’s center, but failed to receive a sanction from the authorities. The site in unavailable for public gatherings at present, because preparations are underway for an upcoming military parade on Victory Day. Police warned they will disperse any crowd trying to assemble there.

Other Russian cities are also gathering for protest events on Sunday as part of the ‘March of the Millions’ campaign.

RIA Novosti / Vladimir Astapkovich
RIA Novosti / Iliya Pitalev
RIA Novosti / Iliya Pitalev
RIA Novosti / Iliya Pitalev
RIA Novosti / Vladimir Astapkovich

RIA Novosti / Iliya Pitalev

RT Photo / Irina Vasilevitskaya

Popular Front anniversary

Meanwhile the pro-Putin movement Popular Front is also holding a demonstration on Saturday to mark its own anniversary and voice their support for the president-elect.

Up to 30,000 people have gathered at Poklonnaya Hill, Moscow police says. The Popular Front’s leadership assured that their action was not aimed against the opposition events.

The movement was formed in March 2011 prior to the parliamentary election. The idea was to gather pro-governmental forces, which are not directly interested in politics, under a single banner.