Moscow: Russian police on Saturday arrested hundreds of Protesters who protested on the streets demanding the release of Alexei Navalny, the government’s most ardent opponent. Despite the temperature below zero to 50 degrees Celsius, people took to the streets to protest.
Navalny, the greatest critic and bitter critic of President Vladimir Putin, was arrested on 17 January, when he returned from Germany to Moscow. He was undergoing treatment in Germany for five months. He has accused the Russian government of poisoning him.
Officials say his stay in Germany violated the terms of a suspended sentence in a criminal case, while Navalny says his arrest is illegal. He has to appear in the court in early February when a decision will be taken on his sentence.
According to the arrest-watchdog group OVD-Info, more than 350 people involved in protests in the Far East and Siberia have been detained. Large demonstrations are expected later in the afternoon in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other parts of the country.
