Moscow, February 01: Russian security forces have arrested opposition leader Eduard Limonov as hundreds of people in Moscow call on Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to step down.
Limonov and a dozen of his supporters were arrested on Monday when they tried to hold a protest near Moscow’s downtown Triumfalnaya Square despite the authorities’ refusal to sanction the rally, a Press TV correspondent reported on Monday.
Earlier, opposition and human rights activists had staged a demonstration at the square to call attention to Article 31 of the Russian Constitution, which guarantees freedom of assembly.
The protesters chanted “Down with the rule of thieves” and “Russia without Putin,” calling on the government to allow for democratic freedoms.
“We have no freedom of speech and no political representation. The government tells us we need an iron-fist. I don’t want to live in the new Soviet Union,” a demonstrator told a Press TV correspondent on Monday.
Meanwhile, protest organizers have said they are not deterred by the recent spate of detentions and vowed not to abandon their demands.
On December 31, opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was arrested and spent 15 days in jail after a rally was held on Triumfalnaya Square. He accused Putin of corruption and blamed him for his failure to fight terrorism in the country.
“The number of terrorist attacks has gone up. The lawlessness will never end while [Vladimir] Putin is in power. We have no freedom and no security but terrorism,” Nemtsov said then.
Last week, at least 35 people were killed and another 130 people were injured after a massive explosion ripped through the international arrivals hall of Domodedovo Airport in Moscow.
Putin has said the government respects the right of citizens to protest but they should do it within the framework of law.
He pointed out that dissidents do not need rallies but rather they are looking for a conflict with the authorities.
——–Agencies