Moscow authorities have given the green light for an anti-government protest on March 31, a senior human rights activist said on Tuesday.
"City Hall gave permission for the rally," Lyudmila Alexeyeva, head of the Moscow Helsinki Group, told RIA Novosti.
Three thousand people will be allowed to take part in the demonstration in downtown Moscow's Pushkinskaya Square.
The authorities did not give permission for a proposed march from the square to the Kremlin, Alexeyeva said.
Radical opposition leader Eduard Limonov, who has distanced himself from Alexeyeva and other activists over the size and location of the regular rallies, was denied approval for a separate protest in nearby Triumfalnaya Square, the protesters' favored site.
Limonov was jailed for 15 days on December 31 for insulting police when they detained him near his home in Moscow hours before he was to lead an unsanctioned rally.
Another opposition leader, Boris Nemtsov was also handed a 15-day sentence after taking part in a sanctioned demonstration on the same day.
The opposition holds protests on the last day of every month with 31 days, in honor of Article 31 of the Russian Constitution, which guarantees freedom of assembly.
MOSCOW, March 22 (RIA Novosti)
