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19 held at Moscow protests of opposition jailing

MOSCOW - Moscow police detained 19 people Wednesday in the latest protests against the jailing of Boris Nemtsov, one of Russia’s most prominent opposition leaders, whom Amnesty International has called a prisoner of conscience.

Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister and member of parliament, was arrested along with more than 60 others at a rally on New Year’s Eve and jailed for 15 days. His supporters have held protests every day this week and at each one police have moved in to stop them.
Police said they released all 16 protesters detained Wednesday following demonstrations at the Moscow mayor’s office and the presidential administration building. Three others were detained later outside the jail where Nemtsov was being held and were still in police custody.
The U.S. State Department expressed concern about Nemtsov’s arrest, and Amnesty International called for his immediate release.
“Yet again, the Russian authorities have failed in their obligations to protect the rights to freedom of assembly, a right guaranteed by the Russian Constitution” Andrea Huber, Europe and Central Asia deputy program director at Amnesty International, said in a statement.
The organization said it considered Nemtsov and other arrested opposition leaders “prisoners of conscience, detained solely for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of assembly and freedom of expression.”
Nemtsov was arrested after leaving a peaceful, authorized protest rally on a central Moscow square that had been surrounded by hundreds of helmeted riot police. Police claimed he was heading for another, unauthorized rally nearby.
Speaking before a crowd of a few hundred people, Nemtsov had called for the ouster of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
In recent years, Russia has persistently stifled opposition groups by granting them permission to rally only rarely and swiftly breaking up any attempts to hold unsanctioned gatherings.
In response, opposition supporters have rallied on the last day of every month with 31 days, a nod to the 31^st Article of the Russian constitution, which guarantees the right of assembly. In October and again in December, authorities gave rare approval to the end-of-the-month gatherings.
Nemtsov was a deputy prime minister under Boris Yeltsin and helped form the liberal Union of Right Forces party. The party lost all its seats in parliament in the 2003 elections that saw the pro-Kremlin United Russia party gain overwhelming domination of the legislature. Since 2008, Nemtsov has been one of the leaders of the Solidarity group.