A new demonstration against the arrest of a Russian regional governor, accused of murders, gathered thousands of people on Saturday, July 18, in Khabarovsk, the protest movement not weakening in this city of the Far East for a week.

Sergei Fourgal, governor of the Khabarovsk region and member of the nationalist LDPR party, was arrested on July 9 on charges of murders dating back more than 15 years, which he rejects.

His supporters see the case as an attempt to neutralize an opponent of the ruling United Russia party. Sergei Fourgal's arrest sparked massive protests in Khabarovsk, a city of 600,000 people located 6,100 km east of the Russian capital.

While several opposition movements in Moscow have gathered large crowds in the past - often suppressed by the police - large-scale protest demonstrations remain rare in the Russian regions.

In Khabarovsk, several thousand people, including young people, the elderly and women with children in strollers, paraded in the city center on Saturday, holding up signs saying "Freedom for Fourgal!" noted an AFP correspondent.

According to a press release from the Khabarovsk town hall, they were "up to 10,000" on the streets of the center. According to the local news site Dvhab.ru, between 15,000 and 30,000 people participated in the parade when the temperatures exceeded 30 degrees.

"Fair trial"

The demonstrators demanded a "fair trial" for their governor in Khabarovsk and not in Moscow where Sergei Fourgal was taken after his arrest to be placed in pre-trial detention.

Protestants gathered tens of thousands of people in Khabarovsk on Saturday, according to supporters of Sergei Fourgal.

Former doctor, businessman and deputy of the nationalist LDPR party in the Russian Parliament, Sergei Fourgal, 50, was elected to general surprise in 2018 governor of the Khabarovsk region with almost 70% of the votes, ousting the candidate from United Russia.

After his high-profile arrest, his party threatened to leave parliament and resign other governors elected under his label.

According to the investigators' version, Sergei Fourgal organized in 2004 and 2005 the assassination of several businessmen and was denounced by "accomplices" of the time.

With AFP

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