Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov failed to attend a picket held by opposition parties in downtown Moscow on Sunday against his arrest on December 31.
Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister turned opposition leader, was arrested after an anti-Kremlin rally in Moscow's Triumfalnaya Square on New Year's Eve and sentenced to 15 days in jail for "disobeying police instructions."
He was released late on January 15 and was expected to attend the sanctioned picket on Pushkin Square, downtown Moscow, in protest of the illegal arrests of Russian opposition members.
The leader of the Left Front opposition movement, Sergei Udaltsov, Nemtsov was unable to come because he "was ill." He said the opposition leader's illness was possibly due to his 15-day arrest that negatively affected his health.
The picket gathered some 20 opposition supporters and 50 journalists. The participants chanted: "Boris, we are with you! Get well soon!"
MOSCOW, January 16 (RIA Novosti)
