Moscow police allowed dozens of opposition activists to hold an improvised rally on the Red Square on Sunday, but detained protesters who tried to pitch a tent by the Kremlin walls.
A police spokesperson initially said Yevgenia Chirikova and two others will be released upon being formally charged with petty hooliganism, punishable with a fine of 1,000 rubles ($33) or 15 days in detention.
But the charge was later changed to disobeying police orders, which carries the same punishment, the spokesperson said. Chirikova was released and due for a court hearing on Tuesday, but wrote on Twitter that one more detainee was kept behind bars while the third was hospitalized.
Several dozen opposition activists gathered on the Red Square on Sunday sporting white ribbons, a symbol of this winter’s anti-government protests that attracted tens of thousands in Moscow.
The Federal Guard Service closed off the Red Square last Sunday, preventing a similar event, but this time, protesters, including opposition leaders Boris Nemtsov and Sergei Udaltsov, faced no obstacles as they strolled around the square with white ribbons on their lapels.
Three people, however, were detained at a nearby Ploshchad Revolutsii metro station ahead of the event on accusations of disturbing public peace.
Dozens of protesters followed the detained Chirikova to the police precinct, shouting for her release and tying white ribbons to the building’s entrance. Police pushed them away, but did not detain anyone.
Opposition leaders proposed earlier to camp out in Moscow’s squares in protest of alleged violations at the presidential elections in March, but police prevented all attempts to set up tent camps in the city’s center.
