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Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny arrested during anti-government protests

2018-01-29 13 Dailymotion

Now for a look at stories making headlines around the world and we start with unrest in Russia. <br />Amid protests calling for a presidential election boycott, opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been detained by police.<br />For more on this and other news we turn to our Ro Aram…<br />Aram… another crackdown by Russian authorities to try to silence President Putin's most vocal critic…<br /><br /> That's right Semin… he appeared at a rally on Sunday to urge voters to boycott what he said would be a rigged presidential election in March. <br /> He was then was dragged feet first by police into a patrol van, sparking chaotic scenes.<br />In a tweet soon after he was detained, Navalny encouraged his supporters to join the nationwide protests, which Russian authorities said were illegal. <br />He added that the detention of one person was meaningless, adding that the protests were not about him, but the future of Russian people.<br />He is expected to be charged with illegally organizing a protest and could face 30 days behind bars if found guilty. <br />More than 180 people were also reported to have been arrested across the country.<br /> Earlier on Sunday, police raided the opposition leader's campaign headquarters in Moscow in what they said was a response to a bomb threat. <br />It came as the office was broadcasting a YouTube video to cover the rallies, which have not been mentioned by Russian state media.<br />Eight staff members were said to have been detained, with computers and cameras also being seized. <br /> The election is expected to be comfortably won by Putin and Navalny has been barred from running.<br />But the Kremlin seems to be weary of Navalny's ability to use social media to mobilize crowds of mostly young protesters in major cities. <br />However, the number of participants who showed up at Sunday's protests were said to be lower than previous demonstrations Navalny had staged, indicating that momentum may have shifted away from him. <br />

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