Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny detained

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny detained

Russian President Vladimir Putin. (File Photo: IANS)

Moscow, May 5 (IANS) Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny was detained by police at a demonstration against President Vladimir Putin here on Saturday.

Thousands of demonstrators denouncing Putin's inauguration into a fourth term gathered in the capital's Pushkin Square. Navalny was taken into custody by police shortly after arriving at the rally where riot police carted away some protesters while some were beaten by pro-Putin supporters, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported.

Videos showed police carrying a struggling Navalny out of the square by the legs and arms.

According to a Guardian report, the unauthorised protest was part of nationwide demonstrations taking place under the slogan: "He is not our tsar."

Navalny has called for nationwide rallies to protest against Putin's inauguration on May 7.

At least 150 people were arrested in Krasnoyarsk, in eastern Siberia and a further 75 in Yakutsk, the capital of a diamond-mining region in northeast Russia.

The arrests came after police detained a number of Navalny's supporters across Russia on the eve of the protests.

With the fourth term as the Russian President, Putin extends his 18-year reign that his supporters say lifted the country "from its knees" and is denounced by his opponents as a "corrupt, calcifying autocracy".

Navalny, who has organized large street protests and published a series of reports alleging corruption in Russia's ruling elite, was barred from the presidential ballot in March due to a conviction on financial-crimes charges that he called "fabricated".

--IANS

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