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Russian Opposition Leaders Remain Determined Despite Raids, Arrest

VOA News

   RFE/RL contributed to this report.

   Despite the arrest of a top Kremlin critic and police raids on the
   homes of several political activists, opposition leaders in Russia
   remained determined to go ahead with a planned protest in Moscow on
   Saturday.

   Opposition leader Alexei Navalny was ordered jailed Wednesday for 30
   days for calling "unauthorized protests" for this weekend to protest
   the disqualification of several opposition-minded candidates from the
   Sept. 8 Moscow city council elections.

   Election officials have barred about 30 independent candidates from the
   ballot, saying some of the 5,500 signatures they needed to get on the
   ballot were invalid. The rejected candidates say the reason for not
   validating the signatures is to keep genuine independents off the
   ballots and ensure the ruling United Russia party and others who do
   President Vladimir Putin's bidding maintain dominance.