Thousands of people have taken part in protests in Russia’s far east over the arrest of a regional leader.
They marched to the regional government in Khabarovsk shouting slogans against President Vladimir Putin.
Khabarovsk governor Sergei Furgal was detained on Thursday, accused of having ordered the killing of several business people 15 years ago.
Mr Furgal defeated the candidate of Mr Putin’s United Russia party in elections two years ago.
His party, the ultra-nationalist Liberal Democrat Party of Russia, is usually seen as loyal to the Kremlin.
But correspondents say Mr Furgal’s victory was seen as a blow to United Russia’s grip on power in the regions, and he is a popular figure in the far east.
Estimates by regional media and opposition put the number of demonstrators at between 5,000 and 40,000, in a city of about 600,000 inhabitants.
Opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s regional office described the rally, which lasted nearly four hours, as “an absolute record for our region and a unique show of unity in society”.
Video footage showed protesters shouting slogans such as “Freedom!”, “Putin is a thief” and “Putin, resign”.
Several other towns in the region held smaller protests. Police did not intervene or make any arrests.
BBC
