Prague, Jan 28 (CTK) – Some 70 people, including Russian nationals, took part in a demonstration in support of the boycott of the presidential election in Russia that was staged on Wenceslas Square in Prague centre on Sunday.
The event organisers call the Russian presidential election to be held in mid-March unjust and at variance with the constitution since citizens are prevented from expressing their free will.
The protest is organised by supporters of opposition leader Alexei Navalny who was not allowed to run as a rival candidate of incumbent Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to authorities, Navalny was eliminated because of being given a suspended sentence.
Demonstrations are staged in a number of Russians towns to call on people not to vote in the presidential election.
“The Kremlin did not allow popular candidates to run in the election and sent a message, saying there would be no competition in the presidential contest,” the organisers of the Prague event said.
It is shameful to play according to the rules given by the system that is disrespecting the constitution and it is also shame to take part in a referendum on confidence in Putin, the said.
The participants in the protest do not want to be “silent extras” that cannot interfere in politics.
The demonstrators in Prague carried banners reading “Elections in Russia – World Fraud,” or “Crimea is Ukraine, Not a Place for Election of Putin,” hinting at the Russian annexation of Crimea, as well as tens of Russian flags, an EU flag and a flag of Crimean Tatars.
Russian police raided the Moscow office of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation this morning and detained some of his aides. The police justified the raid by a phone call reporting a bomb in the office. They also raided the studio used by Navalny’s team for live broadcast from demonstrations in dozens of towns in various Russian regions, the Newsru.com server reported.
The police detained Navalny, who joined his followers in Moscow centre, around noon.
The Interfax agency estimated the number of demonstrators in Moscow at several dozen, while TASS reported about several hundred and Newsru.com about several thousand taking part in the unauthorised protests in Moscow and St Petersburg.
Russians will elect president on March 18, while Putin is a clear favourite.
