RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

At Least 1000 Protesters Arrested in Moscow Demonstrating Against Keeping Opposition Candidates off Ballot

Protesters claim opposition party candidates have been banned from the ballot in upcoming Moscow city elections.

Moscow police said that they have detained more than 1,000 protesters throughout the city on Saturday as part of a crack down on upcoming city elections. State news agencies Tass and RIA-Novosti cited police as saying 1,074 people had been arrested as of Saturday night, according to the AP. OVD-Info, which monitors political arrests around the world, reported that at least 835 Russian citizens have been arrested during a planned demonstration against banning opposition candidates from local elections was set to begin. The protests Saturday lasted more than seven hours, beginning in the area of the mayor’s office and then moving to a square about a half of a mile away. Alexei Navalny, a prominent Russian opposition figure, was jailed for 30 days for calling for Saturday’s protest. Electoral authorities had recently banned some opposition candidates in participating in Moscow city elections, citing inadequate signatures on the ballot petition.