By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has called on Russian authorities “to respect the right to peaceful protests” ahead of rallies against alleged electoral fraud due to be held in Moscow and other 78 Russian cities.
Around 1,000 people have so far been detained across Russia in demonstrations against suspected vote fraud during the Dec 4 parliamentary polls.
“The scale of arrests has not been in any way justified. We fear that the Russian police are simply quashing opposition protest, no matter how peaceful,” said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International’s deputy director for Europe and Central Asia.
Amnesty also called on the Russian authorities “to rein in the police”.
Over 25,000 people in Facebook and more than 16,000 users in Russia’s leading social network VKontakte have said they will attend a sanctioned protest in Moscow, planned for Saturday.
Opposition leader Vladimir Milov warned Thursday in an interview with Moscow-based Ekho Moskvy radio station that there could be bloodshed at the rally and warned people to stay away.