The city of Moscow is burning with the spirit of political activism and large scale people’s participation as hundreds of people have taken to the streets to demand free and fair elections. In Moscow, a massive protest was held on Saturday that eventually led to the arrest and detention of more than 1,000 people including several leaders of the Opposition.
The demonstration demanded fair elections to the city council. The administration was well aware that such situation may manifest itself and so it deployed hundreds of police men and sent them to the capital, closing down streets near the planned protest site and retreating demonstrators and bystanders.
A large number of people took part in the demonstration on Saturday and it is being estimated that the number of detentions was nearing 3,500. Many prominent political leaders belonging to the Opposition were forcibly detained before the protests started amid a wide range of scuffles.
This is the second in a series of protests that are to be organised in the city for demanding free elections. The last protest was held a week ago where more than 20,000 people came to the streets. The protesters are demanding free local elections.
This is also recorded to be the largest rally held in Russia since the 2011-2012 rally against President Vladimir Putin’s re-election. The protesters who attended the rally were shouting the slogan “ Putin is a thief”.
The recent array of protests going on in Moscow is a result of the recent decision by the Russian government to ban all except a few opposition and independent candidates fighting for the city council seats.
The protest was preceded by extensive social media campaigns that urged people to participate in wage numbers. The protests are a manifestation of the reality that there is growing discontent against Putin in Russia. Th authorities have become aware that there is growing discontent in different corners of the nation and that the climate of citizen anger cannot be calmed down so easily.
