Russia: Anti-Putin protesters march for release of ’political prisoners’

1. M/S Protesters carry red banners 2. M/S Rally participants have conflict with man whom they call a provocateur 3. M/S Police detain rally participants 4. M/S Police line, people march street chanting UPSOUND (in Russian) "Putin is the enemy!" 5. M/S Police search people arriving at rally 6. M/S Protester with scythe stands in front of line of people with banner 7. M/S Crowd with flags 8. W/S Protesters marching with banners and flags 9. M/S Alexei Navalny, centre, and his wife, Yulia, and Ilya Yashin, right, member of the RPR-PARNAS federal political council’s bureau, take part in an opposition rally in Bolshaya Yakimanka Street in Moscow 10. W/S Protesters in rally 11. M/S man with guitar in rally 12. W/S Protesters march with flags 13. W/S Protesters cross bridge at Bolotnaya Square 14. W/S People cross bridge at Bolotnaya Square 15. W/S Police follows tail of the march SCRIPT Russia: Anti-Putin protesters march for release of ’political prisoners’ Thousands of anti-government protesters marched through central Moscow on Wednesday as Russian opposition groups called for the release what they call political prisoners. Police estimate that some 6,000 protesters marched to Bolotnaya Square in support of opposition defendants facing charges in the case stemming from the May 6, 2012 mass protests in the same location. Led by opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his wife Yulia, demonstrators carried placards and called the action a ’March Against Executioners’. Demonstrators said the date of the rally, June 12, was timed to coincide with the start of the 12 Bolotnaya Square case suspects’ trials in early June, where they face charges of "calling for and taking active part in disorderly conduct". The rally began at 13:00 local time (09:00 GMT) and included individuals from several groups such as People’s Freedom Party, RPR-PARNAS, the Solidarity movement, Left Front and Moscow’s Communist Youth Organisation. Nine people were detained for carrying flags and emblems of the Left Front movement, a group whose activities are currently suspended until July 19 by the Prosecutor’s office for failing to publish its earnings reports since 2008.