"Russia will be free!" More than 20,000 people gathered in central Moscow on Saturday to demand free and fair local elections.

Protesters chanted slogans calling for freedom while they were flanked by police, some waving "No to Putin!" Posters. and "I have the right to vote".

The opposition had called for the protest after the Russian authorities invalidated the registration of some 60 candidates for election to the Moscow City Parliament, a poll scheduled for September.

According to the NGO White Counter, which specializes in counting protesters, at least 22,500 people gathered at this authorized rally.

"We will not give up!"

"This is obviously the biggest opposition meeting in recent years," said the opposition anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny, who is on the ground with his allies.

In a speech to the crowd, Alexei Navalny, 43, called on the authorities to register all candidates by next Saturday. Otherwise, he promised a new demonstration of magnitude in front of the town hall. Lawyer Lioubov Sobol, 31, who was out of the poll and close to Navalny, said she was convinced of a victory. "We will not give up!" She said.

Opposition excluded

After a verification procedure, the Moscow Electoral Commission on Wednesday excluded 57 candidates, including almost all independent opponents for defects in form or irregularities that they denounce as fabricated.

In regional and local elections, the Muscovites are called to ballot on September 8 to renew the five-year term of the 45 deputies of the local parliament, to validate the decisions of Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, loyal to power.

According to the law, independent candidates were expected to gather the signatures of at least 3% of their potential voters in each of Moscow's 45 districts, from around 4,500 to 5,000 people, to be eligible to compete.

But opposition candidates who met these requirements were outraged by an opaque verification procedure that disqualified them and, in their opinion, benefited pro-power candidates.

Deprived of participation in more important elections such as the presidential election, the opposition mobilized strongly for these elections in Moscow, hoping to get its say in the management of the Russian capital's enormous budget.

With AFP