Moscow Police Detain Dozens of Protesters
- 14 years ago
Moscow police detained dozens on Thursday as they tried to stage a protest against Mayor Yuri Luzhkov.
Protesters say the mayor was away from the capital, and city authorities failed to provide enough help to the affected population when the city was suffocating from thick smoke.
[Zhanna Denisova, Protester]: (female, Russian)
"Only on televisions screens we see what they do for our Moscow, for healthcare, for elders, for children, but where is all this? The situation in our healthcare is catastrophic. People were dying in hospitals during these last days because there were no air-conditioning, women who gave birth, children, it was awful. And we are enraged by this.”
Police blocked the street in front of the mayor’s office, before the protest was scheduled to start.
Some protesters were detained as they approached the mayor’s office, while others at the building were taken in police buses.
Prominent Russian human rights activist Lev Ponomarev was detained along with dozens of others.
Some protesters were seen carrying poster with figure "12” referring to article 12 of the Russian Constitution guaranteeing the right to self-government.
Protesters say the mayor was away from the capital, and city authorities failed to provide enough help to the affected population when the city was suffocating from thick smoke.
[Zhanna Denisova, Protester]: (female, Russian)
"Only on televisions screens we see what they do for our Moscow, for healthcare, for elders, for children, but where is all this? The situation in our healthcare is catastrophic. People were dying in hospitals during these last days because there were no air-conditioning, women who gave birth, children, it was awful. And we are enraged by this.”
Police blocked the street in front of the mayor’s office, before the protest was scheduled to start.
Some protesters were detained as they approached the mayor’s office, while others at the building were taken in police buses.
Prominent Russian human rights activist Lev Ponomarev was detained along with dozens of others.
Some protesters were seen carrying poster with figure "12” referring to article 12 of the Russian Constitution guaranteeing the right to self-government.