Opposition leaders amongst thousands protesting against Putin

Tens of thousands of people marched through downtown Moscow on Saturday in the first major protest in three months against President Vladimir Putin, defying the Kremlin's efforts to muzzle dissent.  

Leftists, liberals and nationalists mixed up with students, teachers, gay activists and others on the capital's tree-lined boulevards, chanting "Russia without Putin!" and "We are the government!"       

"We came to say a definite 'No' to the crooks and thieves. We came to do everything to stop repression. We came to do everything to have new, honest elections. We will win in any case, there are many of us - they interfere, they try to scare us, but none of it worked," said opposition leader Boris Nemtsov.     

The demonstration showed that opposition sentiment has remained strong, despite the government's efforts to stem the protest movement that had fielded more than 100,000 people to the streets last winter in a series of massive protests against Putin's election to a third presidential term.    

Putin has taken a tougher course against the opposition since his inauguration in May with a series of new repressive laws, arrests and interrogation of activists.    

In August, a court handed two-year prison sentences to three members of the punk band Pussy Riot for performing an anti-Putin song inside Moscow's main cathedral.       

A day before the rally, parliament expelled an opposition lawmaker who angered the Kremlin by joining the protest movement.        

The vote to oust Gennady Gudkov over allegations of running a business in violation of parliament rules - charges Gudkov called "a sham" - angered many, possibly helping beef up the ranks of protesters.     

The vote deprived Gudkov, a KGB veteran like Putin, from his immunity from prosecution and his supporters fear he could be arrested.    

Gudkov, who was at Saturday's protest, said the government was "very scared".      

"They vacillate between repression and cozying up to the public. We'll put pressure on them until serious discussions begin," Gudkov added.     

The rally appeared to be as big as the last major protest in June, which attracted tens of thousands.      

About 7,000 police officers were deployed to maintain security on Saturday along the route of the march, which has been authorized by the city government, and a police helicopter was hovering overhead.          


APTN