Thousands of anti-Putin protesters march in Moscow

       
Thousands of Russian opposition activists marched through Moscow on Wednesday, decrying President Vladimir Putin's authoritarian rule and calling for the release of more than two dozen people they consider political prisoners.                

The march on Russia Day, a national holiday, was to show support for 27 people arrested after a protest turned violent on the eve of Putin's inauguration more than a year ago. Sixteen of the defendants have remained in jail pending trial on charges that could send them to prison for up to 10 years.               

The arrests, especially those of ordinary Russians who had joined the anti-Putin rallies for the first time and who in some cases seemed to have been grabbed at random, appeared to be part of Kremlin efforts to deter people from joining any future protests.                 

The estimated 10,000 to 15,000 protesters who turned out Wednesday was far fewer than the 100,000 or more who rallied against Putin before his election to a third term, reflecting a wariness that has taken the steam out of the protest movement. But the turnout was still higher than many had expected.                    

Opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his wife led the marchers behind an orange banner saying: "Freedom to the May 6 prisoners. For your freedom and ours."                

Navalny, who first made his name as an anti-corruption campaigner, is on trial in a separate case in which he is accused of embezzlement while serving as an adviser to a provincial governor. He claims the charges are punishment for his exposure of high-level corruption and campaign against Putin and his party.           


AP