Yabloko Party demands release of people detained at March 26 protest in Moscow
MOSCOW. March 28 (Interfax) - The mass detentions of people taking part in an unpermitted protest in Moscow on March 26 lacked any grounds, and all those detained should be released, Yabloko Party Federal Political Committee Chairman Grigory Yavlinsky said.
"More than 24 hours have passed since hundreds of people were detained in the center of Moscow. Most of them are still in police custody. They need to be released immediately," Yavlinsky was quoted as saying by the party's press service.
The police resorted to sweeping detentions during the protest "without any grounds for that," Yavlinsky said. Those detained either did not break the law at all, or their offences were "highly dubious and require more substantial proof," he said.
The citizens who joined the Sunday protests did so because they lack any opportunity to express their civil position in any other way, Yavlinsky said.
"The political essence and efficiency of such protests is a separate issue, and there is no point in discussing it now. The most important thing today is to stop the people's sufferings. We demand that the Russians detained on March 26 be released," he said.