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Police detain protesters outside Moscow jail holding Navalny
MOSCOW, Jan 23, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Russian police on Saturday beat
with batons and detained protesters who gathered outside Moscow’s
high-security prison holding top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, an AFP
journalist reported.
Hundreds of demonstrators outside the Matrosskaya Tishina prison
chanted “Freedom” and called on authorities to release President
Vladimir Putin’s most vocal critic, after an estimated 20,000 people
gathered in the Russian capital for anti-government demonstrations.
The OVD-Info monitoring group said that law enforcement detained
2,131 demonstrators at protests in dozens of cities held across Russia
Saturday calling for Navalny’s release and denounce Putin’s rule.
The group said that a majority of the detentions — 795 — were
carried out in Moscow where protesters clashed violently with police.
The NGO said that more than 300 people were seized by police in
Russia’s second city Saint Petersburg, where an AFP journalist said
more than 10,000 people rallied.
BSS/AFP/MRU/2348hrs