Leftist Leader Detained Near ‘Russian FBI’

A leader of the recent anti-Kremlin protests was detained in Moscow on Thursday during an unsanctioned picket near the Russian Investigative Committee.

Sergei Udaltsov announced his own detention in a Twitter message sent from a paddy wagon. The announcement was later confirmed by city police.

Udaltsov tried to organize some 50 protesters into a human chain around the downtown office of the Investigative Committee, Russia’s analogue of the FBI that is currently conducting an investigation into riots during an opposition rally in May.

Fourteen people were charged over the May riots, which saw some 650 briefly detained by the police, according to rights activists’ figures.

The opposition claims that police provoked the riots and that the ongoing case is fabricated as part of the Kremlin’s intimidation campaign against its enemies, which also saw police searching the homes of several protest leaders, though not Udaltsov.

Police said that Udaltsov, 35, who heads the unregistered group the Left Front, has violated the new draconian law on public rallies passed by the Kremlin in the wake of the May riots.

Udaltsov, who has a track record of more than 100 arrests at unsanctioned rallies, could face a fine of up to 300,000 rubles ($9,500) over the picket, which saw no other arrests. Police did not specify his punishment as of Thursday evening.

 

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