• Tweeter

  • republish

According to the police, about 20,000 people gathered around 13:00 UT on Sakharov Avenue, near the center of Moscow, braving the autumn rain. RFI / Daniel Vallot

More than 20,000 people gathered in Moscow on Sunday (September 29th) to denounce the lawsuits filed against protesters last summer - protesters accused of violence against the police, or failing to comply with the law on political rallies. A very important mobilization in the Russian capital which shows the outrage aroused by these sentences to terms of several years in prison. Reportage.

With our correspondent in Moscow, Daniel Vallot

" Freedom for political prisoners. The slogan is echoed by the crowd massed behind the metal barriers erected by the police. Among the demonstrators, we meet Veronika. The voice trembling, she tells us about these protesters last summer who were sentenced to several years in prison.

" I came because the same thing can happen to me too : the illegal detention, the prison. I can go out on the street to protest, and they can stop me and beat me. So I defend my rights, my freedom, and I also defend those people. "

It is also by solidarity that Larissa came to protest. This mother feels that the defendants should not only be released but also laundered by the courts.

" The accusations made to them are completely false. Or they are totally absurd: some are accused for example of having thrown a plastic cup to the police. I do not think these people are guilty of anything. "

Of the 12 people still behind bars following demonstrations last summer in Moscow, six were sentenced to several years in prison. Six others are waiting for their judgment.

► See also: Berlin condemns Moscow's "disproportionate" arrests