Olga Kurnosova, head of the St. Petersburg branch of the United Civil Front, said that protesters gathered on Pionerskaya Square and shouted slogans including “Power to the millions, not to millionaires!” “Putin, step down!” and “We are for fair elections!”

Along with Kurnosova, Oksana Dmitrieva from A Just Russia and leading opposition politician Boris Nemtsov made speeches at the rally.

While the protest had been sanctioned by city authorities, witnesses reported that around ten armored military trucks were seen making their way towards the center of the city on Sunday morning.

In addition, police briefly detained Nemtsov at the Moskovsky train station and demanded an explanation for his trip to the city.

According to Grani.ru, the police presented Nemtsov with a document labeling him as a “leader of extremists.” The opposition leader was released after explaining that he had come to participate in a sanctioned rally.

The incident compacted Nemtsov’s fears that he is being watched. “The police continue to follow me earnestly, and I suspect that my freedom could soon come to an end,” he said.

Accusations of “extremist” activity are commonly used by Russian government authorities to persecute or marginalize opposition politicians.

Also on Sunday, the Russian Central Electoral Commission rejected an application by fellow opposition leader Eduard Limonov to run for president.

The commission stated that the rejection was based on a lack of minutes from a meeting that is required by law to be held in support of the candidate.

Limonov denounced the decision as politically motivated and promised to challenge it in court. On December 15, the oppositionist found himself without a physical place to hold the meeting, since the hall he had rented was abruptly closed for “urgent repairs” the day of the meeting.

In Moscow, Triumfalnaya Square was cordoned off by police from early morning hours, with officers telling journalists that “some sort of event” would be held there in the evening.

As the rally began and cries of “freedom of assembly always and everywhere” and “freedom to political prisoners” could be heard among the 200-strong crowd, riot police pushed a crowd of journalists and photographers away from the square towards an underground pedestrian passage and set about detaining the activists. Among those arrested were Solidarity members Ilya Yashin and Anastasia Rybachenko, Other Russia party leader Eduard Limonov, and United Civil Front Moscow leader Lolita Tsariya.

According to Kasparov.ru, numerous activists were severely beaten by police while being detained. Doctors called to a police station where Rybachenko was being held advised her to have her neck examined in the station’s trauma center. Other Russia member Konstantin Tofimtsev was also reportedly beaten and placed in a cell separate from the other detainees.

Moscow city authorities had refused to sanction the protest on the basis that “archeological work” was being done on Triumfalnaya Square. While the square has been cordoned off for more than a year due to supposed construction plans for an underground parking garage, virtually no work has been done over that time.

In St. Petersburg, between 400 and 1000 Strategy 31 protesters attempted to hold an unsanctioned march along Nevsky Prospect. They were blocked by police, however, who then began detaining participants. According to local Other Russia leader Andrei Dmitriyev, many were kept in police holding overnight.

Approximately 150 protesters came out to a Strategy 31 protest in Rostov-on-Don. According to local United Civil Front and Solidarity leader Boris Baty, oppositionists were forced to go through several different courts before local authorities would sanction the event.

In Omsk, opposition organizers were prevented by local authorities from holding a regular rally, and local United Civil Front Secretary Viktor Korb explained to the gathered crowd that the group was therefore forced to hold a small public meeting instead.

Rallies were also held in the cities of Saratov, Sochi, Ryazan, Tomsk, and others.

Activists from various Russian civil and political movements have been holding Strategy 31 rallies for more than two years across the country. As a general rule, the protests are not granted sanction by local authorities and are routinely violently dispersed by riot police.

Video of the march in St. Petersburg:

In Moscow, at least 35 people were detained at Triumfalnaya Square immediately at the beginning of the rally at 6:00 pm. Some protesters had attempted to hold a sit-in near the entrance to the Mayakovskaya metro station, which is directly across from the square and for the past year has been cordoned off by a construction barrier despite the complete lack of any actual construction for the vast majority of that time. Sitting on the ground with arms linked, the protesters called for “a Russia without Putin” and “freedom to political prisoners.”

According to eyewitnesses, police threw journalists out of their path, surrounded the protesters, unlinked their arms and dragged them along the ground, all amidst cries of “fascists!” from the onlooking crowd, towards a row of police buses.

Those detained included members of the opposition movement Solidarity, the Other Russia political party, the Left Front opposition group, and others.

One Other Russia activist, Simon Verdiyan, was reportedly severely beaten by police officers in a bus on its way to the Presnenskoe police precinct.

Another 22 ralliers attempted to stage a sit-in around the Triumfalnaya Square construction barrier. In an unprecedented move, police refrained from arresting Strategy 31 co-organizer and Other Russia party leader Eduard Limonov when he joined the sit-in. In general, Limonov is arrested immediately upon arriving at Strategy 31 rallies.

A Kasparov.ru correspondent reported that other protesters gradually joined in the sit-in, which at 6:40 pm numbered at about 60 people.

Some activists taking part in the sit-in, led by Limonov, then began to march towards the nearby Peking Hotel but were stopped by police. Limonov and one of his guards were allowed to pass after the Other Russia leader explained that he was trying to reach his car to go home. The remaining marchers were ordered to disperse.

Remarkably, the remaining sit-in participants were allowed to sit unhindered by police for the remainder of the evening. At 8:00 pm they rose and, promising to return, left the square.

Police did arrest a group of “provocateurs” who, according to Kasparov.ru, “tried to give money to oppositionists and bystanders,” as if they were being paid to partake in the rally. Members of pro-Kremlin youth groups are often found at opposition rallies spreading false rumors that ralliers are paid by Westerners to spoil Russia’s image abroad.

The arrested oppositionists were charged with a variety of offences, including violating order at a rally, disobeying police orders, and petty hooliganism. Like the overwhelming majority of previous Strategy 31 rallies, Wednesday’s event was not granted official sanction from Moscow city authorities, thus rendering the rally illegal. However, as of late Wednesday night, chief organizer Eduard Limonov had not been arrested and there were no reports of detainees being charged with participation in or organization of an unsanctioned rally.

According to Moscow city police, only 12 people had been detained, 8 of whom they say were “consciously blocking pedestrian and automobile traffic on Triumfalnaya Square.”

The day before the rally, as is routine, Triumfalnaya Square was completely surrounded by police buses in order to transfer detainees to the police station the following evening.

Sixty-six people were detained at the previous Strategy 31 rally in Moscow on July 31.

In St. Petersburg, 40 out of the approximately 300 Strategy 31 protesters holding a sit-in at Gostiny Dvor were detained, including United Civil Front Executive Director Olga Kurnosova. According to Gazeta.ru, police literally lifted the protesters from the ground and carried them into police buses, all in under two minutes.

In addition, 10 out of a separate group of 20 Strategy 31 ralliers at Dvortsovaya Square were also arrested.

Like in Moscow, St. Petersburg city authorities refused to sanction Wednesday’s rally, despite being for the first time in the history of Strategy 31 under a new governor – acting Governor Georgy Poltavchenko. Oppositionists had hoped that the transfer of highly unpopular United Russia Governor Valentina Matvienko to her new post as Federation Council Speaker might give the city government a chance to rethink its attitude towards adhering to Russians’ constitutional right to free assembly.

Strategy 31 rallies were also held on Wednesday in dozens of other cities across Russia.

In Saratov, Rostov-on-Don and Nizhny Novgorod, small protests of about 30 people each were held without any police crackdown. In comparison, 16 people were arrested at July’s Strategy 31 rally in Nizhny Novgorod, with three sentenced to five days of administrative arrest each. Rostov-on-Don city authorities refused to sanction the rally on the basis that someone had come four minutes earlier asking for a permit to hold their own rally “to inform citizens about electoral legislation.” Whoever this person was, they didn’t show up Wednesday evening at rally location.

Five people were detained at a rally in Ryazan, where local authorities also refused to sanction the event at its location in a central city square, proposing that it be moved to the outskirts.

On August 30, police arrested oppositionist Aleksei Panov in Arkhangelsk, supposedly for an unpaid fine. Panov insists that the arrest was politically motivated in order to prevent the next day’s protest.

In addition, reports also surfaced on Wednesday that one of the organizers of Strategy 31 in Yekaterinburg, Yevgeny Legedin, has left Russia and is attempting to gain political asylum in Great Britain. Criminal charges of slander were filed against Legedin on July 15, but the oppositionist insists that the charges were politically motivated. He is currently awaiting a response from British authorities.

Legedin’s arrest comes after the conviction of Yekaterinburg’s other Strategy 31 leader, local Yabloko party deputy Maksim Petlin, on slander charges. Petlin, who is currently sitting out a two-month jail sentence, also maintains that the case against him was fabricated.

Despite the absence of both organizers, oppositionists in Yekaterinburg held a Strategy 31 rally Wednesday night.

Per tradition, Strategy 31 rallies are held on the 31st date of the month in dozens of cities throughout Russia in honor of the 31st article of the Russian constitution, which guarantees freedom of assembly. They often end with activists being beaten and detained by police.

Executive Director Olga Kurnosova of the oppositionist United Civil Front said Nemtsov and seven other activists (including herself) were detained at an apartment complex in St. Petersburg’s Petrovsky district on August 15 while distributing anti-Matvienko flyers and calling on residents to vote against the highly unpopular governor in her bid for a local council seat that would allow her to take up the position of Federation Council Speaker.

According to Kurnosova, members of a pro-Kremlin youth group, who were “coordinated” by an aide to powerful city legislator and United Russia party member Vyacheslav Makarov, attacked the oppositionists and pelted them with eggs.

When some of the oppositionists got into a car, “unknown young people” surrounded them, began throwing produce at their vehicle, and “acted aggressively in general.” Police standing nearby did nothing in response to the situation, even helping the attackers.

“We tried to drive away but the police began to stop us and pull us out so that the Nashi members could throw stuff at us,” Kurnosova explained. “At the same time, they didn’t touch the attackers. The Nashi members broke our camera and tried to climb into the car and grab our flyers. The police didn’t react at all.”

The political news website ZakS.ru reported that pro-Kremlin activists threatened to slash the tires of one of their correspondents as well as of Representative Konstantin Yershov from the St. Petersburg branch of the People’s Freedom Party (Parnas), which is co-led by Nemtsov.

On August 14, Nemtsov was also arrested under similar circumstances while canvassing against Matvienko in St. Petersburg’s Krasnenkaya Rechka district.

Matvienko was nominated for the post of Federation Council Speaker by Russian President Dmitri Medvedev earlier this summer. In order for her to accept the post, she must be officially voted in as a representative of a particular region in Russia, which then in turn must vote for her as speaker.

According to Kasparov.ru, Matvienko plans to run on the United Russia party platform in Krasnenkaya Rechka and Petrovsky.

Representatives of the political opposition, who have been intent on providing Matvienko with some competition, have been unable to officially register as candidates. Therefore, the Solidarity opposition movement, also co-led by Nemtsov, and the Other Russia opposition party have begun campaigns calling on locals to vote against Matvienko and any other candidates associated with United Russia.

“The calendar is made up of 11 male students and Elmo – the famous puppet from the children’s program Sesame Street – photographed to represent the student who came up with this idea,” said Kommersant reporter Konstantin Andrianov. “In the captions, the creative students played with problematic topics in the city or tried to make fun of the governor.”

“You have a good roof, but ours leaks,” says first year journalism student Gosha on the page for February. “I can give you my laser for the battle against icicles,” says another, referring to the plight of falling icicles that kill multiple pedestrians every winter.

As “Elmo” told Kommersant, the students originally wanted to print hard copies of the calendar and deliver them to Smolny – St. Petersburg’s city hall – but “not a single print shop wanted to do this.” Instead, they posted it on LiveJournal.

SPbGU Journalism Department Dean Anatoly Puyu confirmed that the students in the calendar are indeed from the department. So far no reaction has been heard from either Smolny or Matviyenko herself, he said.

The Petersburg students follow in the footsteps of Moscow State University journalism students who caused a ruckus last November after shooting a provocative calendar for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s birthday. The next day, different students from the same department came out with an alternative calendar. As opposed to the original, these girls were fully clothed and posed questions such as “who killed Anna Politkovskaya?” and “how does inflation affect bribes?”

The newest calendar was timed to come out on April 1st, and while clearly driven by humor, the captions touch on seriously questionable actions by the governor. One page, which asks “can I play on the Aurora, too?” refers to a recent scandal in which the governor was caught partying aboard a decommissioned naval cruiser that had been turned into a museum. The museum director says he has no idea who sanctioned the event and state prosecutors are investigating the incident. Another that says “I, a homeless student, am prepared to shovel snow” refers to controversial statements by the governor this past winter that students and homeless people should be recruited to make up for the lack of municipal workers to clear the city’s sidewalks.

January. "Valentina Ivanovna, you're the governor with a capital G." Kolya, SPbGU Journalism Dept., 4th year

February. "Valentina Ivanovna, you have a good roof, but ours leaks." Gosha, SPbGU Journalism Dept., 1st year

March. "Valentina Ivanovna, I can give you my laser for the battle against icicles." Roma, SPbGU Journalism Dept., 3rd year

April. "Valentina Ivanovna, the second term is a lesson for us." Elmo, idea author

May. "Valentina Ivanovna, can I play on the Aurora, too?" Gosha, SPbGU Journalism Dept., 3rd year

June. "Valentina Ivanovna, I, a homeless student, am prepared to shovel snow." Yevgeny, SPbGU Journalism Dept., 3rd year

July. "Valentina Ivanovna, I want a dialogue with the city!" Yura, SPbGU Journalism Dept., 3rd year

August. "Valentina Ivanovna, Gazprom's dreams come true, but what about me?" Nikita, SPbGU Journalism Dept., 1st year

September. "Valentina Ivanovna, I put a grade on your Petersburg report card." Tima, SPbGU Journalism Dept., 4th year

October. "Valentina Ivanovna, they're reconstructing Aprashka. Will you answer for the bazaar?" Danil, SPbGU Journalism Dept., 4th year

November. "Valentina Ivanovna, you have UGG booties!" Anatol, SPbGU Journalism Dept., 4th year

December. "Valentina Ivanovna, an optimist thinks that the glass is half full; the pessimist - that it's half empty. I just like the glass." Vitalik, SPbGU Journalism Dept., 4th year

According to the human rights association Agora, lawyer Dmitri Dinze was prohibited from entering St. Petersburg’s 78th police precinct on the night of March 31, where the activists were placed after being detained at a rally in defense of free assembly.

Having been told that the artists had been beaten, Dinze called Russia’s emergency police number five times during the course of the night. At first, Dinze was promised that officers would be dispatched to resolve the situation, but during the fifth phone call he was told that there was nothing they could do and the lawyer would have to speak with the head of the Central Regional Department of Internal Affairs.

“The St. Petersburg Main Department of Internal Affairs openly admitted that they were incapable of bringing pressure onto officers in the 78th police precinct to not violate the rights of detainees to the defense by and access to a lawyer,” Dinze explained.

He said the doctor who arrived in an ambulance did not actually enter the precinct, which resonated with screams and music associated with the criminal underworld.

Dinze had returned to the 78th precinct after securing the release of Voina activist Oleg Vorotnikov from the 28th precinct. The activist was admitted to the Dzhanelidze Institute of Emergency Medical Care, where wounds all over his body and bruises left from handcuffs were recorded.

Vorotnikov said fellow Voina activists Natalia Sokol and Leonid Nikolaev were also beaten in the police station.

Earlier in the evening, police had taken away Vorotnikov’s young son Kasper and placed him in the surgical unit of the Raukhas Hospital as an “unidentified child,” since Natalia Sokol had his documents with her in police custody.

Vorotnikov was able to bring his son home at 10:35 pm.

Russian Human Rights Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin has asked Dinze to file an official complaint about the actions of the police. According to Agora, the situation is also being followed by the Federal Chamber of Lawyers.

Between 1000-2000 people took part in a march in St. Petersburg as part of the Strategy 31 campaign in defense of free assembly on March 31, 2011. Approximately 100 of them were arrested.

On March 22, St. Petersburg police issued a summons to Other Russia party member Olga Zhukova to appear for interrogation before the federal Investigative Committee.

The summons asserted that if Zhukova did not appear she would be brought before investigators by force and possibly have her daughter turned over to social workers.

On their blog, St. Petersburg Other Russia members alleged that the threats were motivated by an upcoming anti-governmental demonstration. “For all intents and purposes, such activeness on the part of the ‘agencies’ is connected with the imminence of the March of Dissent. We remind you that a March for [St. Petersburg Governor Valentina] Matviyenko’s Resignation, one of the organizers of which is the Other Russia, will begin at the Gostiny Dvor metro station on 6 pm, March 31.”

The interrogation is being held in connection with a case filed against Other Russia members in St. Petersburg for “creating an extremist organization.” The case has been ongoing since November 2010.

According to the Other Russia party, the charges are based on information investigators gained from bugging an apartment where party activists held their meetings. Investigators believe the activists have rekindled the work of the National Bolshevik Party, which was banned in 2007 as an extremist organization. St. Petersburg authorities have raided the apartments of Other Russia party members multiple times and filed charges against ten of them. Both the National Bolshevik and Other Russia parties were founded by writer and controversial opposition leader Eduard Limonov.

Threatening to take children away from opposition activists is not an uncommon tactic used by the Russian authorities. Prominent environmental activist Yevgeniya Chirikova received such a threat earlier this month, as did fellow activist Alla Chernysheva. Yevgeny Ivanov, leader of a trade union of General Motors workers in Russia, has been threatened by child custody services with having his parental rights revoked. In the city of Dzerzhinsk, the local government attempted to take away the children of opposition activist Sergei Pchelintsev. Such tactics have even been used to threaten people who owe debts to the state.

Update 02/01/11: Details added regarding a raid on the Strategy 31 organizational committee office.

Rallies under the Strategy 31 campaign were held in 70 Russian cities on Monday, continuing the Russian opposition’s call for the government to obey the right to free assembly as guaranteed under the 31st article of the Russian constitution. Some of the rallies were sanctioned by the government and others were not, but none of this seemed to make an impression on police who assaulted and arrested dozens of demonstrators and accidental bystanders – without regard, necessarily, to the legal status of the event they were attending.

In Moscow, per recent tradition, two rallies were held simultaneously on Triumfalnaya Square. A sanctioned one was coordinated by longtime human rights activist Lyudmila Alexeyeva, who until recently organized the rallies together with Other Russia party leader Eduard Limonov. Limonov, who is routinely arrested for holding unsanctioned Strategy 31 rallies, was the organizer of Monday’s unsanctioned event. Both had applied for permits with the Moscow mayor’s office, but only Alexeyeva’s was granted, with a cap on the number of participants set at 1000 people – lower than her request of 1500. Limonov reported earlier that his application requested a cap of 2500 ralliers.

The city government planned ahead to prevent any possible unsanctioned activities on the square. By 1:00 pm Moscow time, the entrance to Triumfalnaya Square from Tverskaya Ulitsa was surrounded by two dozen Ural trucks (normally used for transporting soldiers), with another three police buses parked on the square itself. Metal detectors were set up to separate ralliers attending the sanctioned or unsanctioned events.

As usual, estimates of the number of rally participants varied. Interfax claims 700, Gazeta.ru – 1500, Lev Ponomarev – 2500, and the Moscow city police claim there were 500 ralliers and 100 journalists present at the square.

The rally kicked off at 6:00 pm with a speech by human rights leader Lev Ponomarev, followed by Lyudmila Alexeyeva and Solidarity co-leader Boris Nemtsov. Provocators attempted to unfurl a banner during Nemtsov’s address but were prevented by the ralliers. Among cries of “Russia without Putin” and “down with the government of thieves,” satirist Viktor Shenderovich and leading environmental activist Yevgenia Chirikova gave their own speeches. Chirikova called on participants not to be afraid and to bring their friends to the next Strategy 31 rally on March 31. She closed her presentation with a cry of “freedom to political prisoners,” which the square took up as a whole. Politician Vladimir Ryzhkov and Solidarity member Ilya Yashin also spoke and the rally concluded with a general call: “Vova, get out!”

As had been planned, Limonov’s followers in the Other Russia party set off on a march towards the Kremlin after the sanctioned rally was over. According to a Kasparov.ru correspondent, between 30 and 40 people marched along the sidewalk of Tverskaya Ulitsa chanting “Russia without Putin” and, when passing the mayor’s office, “Sobyanin, resign” and “give us mayoral elections.” Upon reaching the Kremlin, the protesters dispersed into the metro. Police videotaped the event but made no arrests.

The first reports of detentions and other unlawful police behavior at the rally, however, came in early in the evening. One Gazeta.ru correspondent witnessed OMON riot police dragging several young people headed towards the sanctioned rally into a bus. Through the glass, one could see police kicking the protesters and beating them with truncheon.

Among the detainees was Solidarity activist Anastasia Rybachenko, who was recently detained in Minsk in an opposition demonstration following presidential elections in Belarus. She confirmed by telephone that Moscow police were beating detainees in the buses, and she herself had an injured hand and was bleeding. The other detained activists hailed from Solidarity and Oborona, she said.

According to Kasparov.ru, Eduard Limonov was detained directly upon arriving at Triumfalnaya Square. Earlier, Other Russia party member Aleksandr Averin reported that police had raided the offices of the Strategy 31 organizational committee. The apartments of two Other Russia party members were also raided the same day. The raids, said Averin, was carried out in connection a criminal suit had been filed for “issuing calls to participate in massive disorders” in connection with the December 11 ultranationalist riots on Manezhnaya Square. Since Limonov was detained outside his home on his way to the last Strategy 31 rally, he invited the press to his apartment on Monday evening so that there would be evidence if this happened again.

Left Front coordinator Sergei Udaltsov was detained on the metro at 5:30 pm, apparently on his way to the rally, under suspicion of having used a counterfeit ticket. He was released an hour later.

Pyotr Shkumatov, an activist with the Blue Bucket Society, was also among those detained. He reported that accidental bystanders had also been arrested.

All in all, a total of 54 people were detained at the Moscow rally, by Kasparov.ru’s estimate. Moscow city police put the number at 20.

The day before the rally, Svoboda News spoke with Vladimir Ryzhkov about his participation in Strategy 31:

“I’m taking part in the rally organized by Lyudmila Alexeyeva, Lev Ponomarev and other human rights advocates. But I am absolutely outraged that Eduard Limonov time and again is refused sanction for peaceful, nonviolent actions. This is a blatant and rude violation of the constitution and of Russian legislation. In this case, the government is trampling on human rights. It is absolutely outrageous and unacceptable.

The action on January 31 has special meaning. It is being held soon after Boris Nemtsov, Eduard Limonov and other unlawfully detained and prosecuted figures were released from jail. We are obligated to express our outrage and dissent with the actions of the authorities.”

According to the Associated Press, Boris Nemtsov compared Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who is being called on to resign by a relentless surge of protesters.

“Please, someone tell me how our leadership differs from his,” Nemtsov shouted to the ralliers. “Russia has to get rid of Putin.”

However, National Public Radio erroneously reported that Monday’s Strategy 31 protests were sparked by the unrest in Egypt.

There were far more arrests at a much smaller Strategy 31 rally in St. Petersburg. At Gostiny Dvor, police detained 100 of the 500 protesters taking part in an unsanctioned rally organized by the local branch of the Other Russia party. Activist Ravil Bashirov began the event by enumerating a series of basic freedoms and calling on the government to observe them. Among these, he said, were the freedoms of speech, assembly, and the right to hold elections. He was detained immediately after his speech.

Witnesses said police were brutal when detaining ralliers. “The OMON were definitely brutal this time around,” said one Other Russia party member. “They rounded people up, dragged them into paddy wagons, beat some of them. And at the end they began detaining passersby and members of the media.”

Despite a heavy police presence, no one was detained at a second unsanctioned Strategy 31 rally in St. Petersburg, this one organized by Solidarity and the United Civil Front. About 100 people came out to the rally, which was held on Dvorotsovaya Square.

Strategy 31 rallies were also held across Russia in the cities of Omsk, Kurgan, Kirov, Sochi, Yekaterinburg, Perm, Blagoveshchensk, Voronezh, Sergiyev Posad, Murmansk, Kemerovo, and others. Several of them reported unlawful detentions.

Click here for photographs of the rally in Moscow.
More photographs of the Moscow rally.
Click here for photographs of the march to the Kremlin.

Boris Nemtsov, co-leader of the Solidarity opposition movement, and Eduard Limonov, head of the banned National Bolshevik party and the Other Russia party, were both sentenced to 15 days in jail – Nemtsov for insubordination to the police and Limonov for hooliganism. Left Front coordinator Konstantin Kosyakin received a 10-day sentence for insubordination to the police and Solidarity member Ilya Yashin was sentenced to 5 days in jail, presumably for the same offense.

In the cases of Kosyakin, Nemtsov, and Yashin, a Moscow court refused to admit testimony from 13 witnesses who asserted that the police had acted unlawfully during the rally.

According to Other Russia party member Andrei Gorin, Limonov had been arrested directly outside of his home on his way to the rally. He was sentenced that very evening.

The nationwide rallies were held as part of the Russian opposition’s ongoing Strategy 31 campaign, which is dedicated to the defense of the 31st article of the Russian constitution, guaranteeing the freedom to peacefully hold gatherings, rallies, demonstrations, marches and pickets.

In Moscow, organizers held two separate rallies, both at 6 pm on Triumfalnaya Square. Lyudmila Alexeyeva, a former Soviet dissident and highly regarded rights activist, received approval from the city to hold one of the rallies. Limonov and Kosyakin organized the second, unsanctioned rally.

As Gazeta.ru reports, the police presence at Triumfalnaya Square that night was strong even compared to previous Strategy 31 events.

“More than one thousand people have gathered at the sanctioned rally,” the correspondent reported. “Police are inspecting everyone very closely; there are a thousand of them as well… Several hundred members of the Other Russia coalition are gathered near the metro.”

An estimated 1500 ralliers came out to Triumfalnaya Square in total.

Moscow city police had cordoned off the square earlier in the day, particularly around the sidewalk between the square and the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, where participants of unsanctioned Strategy 31 rallies usually gather. Anyone who attempted to join that rally from the neighboring Mayakovsky metro station was detained directly at the exit.

Other Russia member Sergei Aksenov was detained after announcing over a megaphone that Limonov had been arrested.

According to Kasparov.ru, OMON riot police periodically squeezed together the participants on Alexeyeva’s side of the square – a tactic commonly used by police during Strategy 31 rallies that often makes it difficult for those present to move or even breathe.

Following up from last year, Alexeyeva came to the rally dressed as a festive snowmaiden. Other oppositionists dressed up as well: environmental activist Yevgenia Chirikova came in a Little Red Riding Hood costume. Rights activist Lev Ponomarev said he wanted to dress as Father Christmas, but couldn’t get ahold of a suitable cap.

After the sanctioned rally had officially ended, some participants – including Nemtsov and Yashin – attempted to cross over to the unsanctioned rally and were promptly arrested. According to Interfax, about 70 people were detained on Triumfalnaya Square in total.

Prior to the rallies, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin had warned that the city would not allow large, unsanctioned events to be held on New Year’s Eve, and that “those who plan to violate the law” could find themselves face-to-face with some unpleasant consequences.

Viktor Biryukov, head of public relations for the Moscow city police, said that they would not allow provocateurs and participants of any possible unsanctioned rallies to ruin New Year’s Eve night for people in the city.

In St. Petersburg, police arrested about 60 people in one of two Strategy 31 rallies held in the city that night. City authorities had refused to grant sanction to either rally.

As Fontanka.ru reports, all the arrests occurred at Gostiny Dvor, where between 100 and 300 people had gathered to rally. Nine girls were detained after unfurling a poster reading “freedom is more important than Olivier salad.”

No arrests were made at the second rally, which had about 100 participants from the United Civil Front, Solidarity, Yabloko, and other opposition groups. Many ralliers wore shirts picturing Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a former oil oligarch who was convicted for a second time last week. He will now continue to sit in prison until 2017. The conviction is widely seen as the personal vendetta of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Photographs of the Moscow rallies can be found by clicking here and here.

Update 11/5/10: Pivovarov has been released and his sentance annulled per court order, after a judge pointed out that his rights as a defendant had been violated. Among others, the activist was denied the right to choose an attorney and the police officers who had detained him were never identified.

Courts and law enforcement agencies are currently deciding the fates of three opposition activists who helped to organize a rally in defense of free assembly in St. Petersburg this past Sunday, Kasparov.ru reports.

Andrei Dmitriev and Andrei Pesotskov, both members of the Other Russia party, were detained at a rally at Gostiny Dvor as part of the Russian opposition’s Strategy 31 campaign. The two were charged with organizing an unsanctioned rally and disobeying a police officer, and were sentenced the next day to 5 and 14 days of administrative arrest, respectively. Following their sentencing, both Dmitriev and Pesotskov’s apartments were raided by police.

A St. Petersburg court acquitted both men on Wednesday morning, but authorities followed to file a criminal suit alleging that the two participated in “extremist” activity.

“The court reconsidered the punishments and released them,” said Other Russia representative Andrei Milyuk. “However, Pesotskov and Dmitriev were immediately taken to Center ‘E’ for interrogation on a criminal suit and it’s not clear whether or not they’re free to go,”

The Center for Extremism Prevention, commonly referred to as Center “E,” is a branch of federal Russian law enforcement that is charged with investigating what is deemed to be “extremist” activity. Human rights organizations around the world have criticized the center for torturing criminal suspects and other abuses of authority, particularly against opposition activists, and for its broad definition of what constitutes extremism.

A harsher sentence was handed down to Andrei Pivovarov, leader of the St. Petersburg branch of the Russian People’s Democratic Union and another organizer of the October 31 rally. Pivovarov was arrested at Gostiny Dvor together with Dmitriev and Pesotskov. On Monday, he was sentenced to 27 days of administrative arrest for organizing Strategy 31 rallies in August and October and for disobeying a police officer.

Originally, this same judge had sentenced Pivovarov to 14 days of arrest for his organization of the August 31 rally, but the oppositionist was released after two days of protests in support of his release. An appellate court ordered the case to be reviewed, and, as it turns out, Monday’s verdict is partially the result of that review.

Opposition activists have spent the past two days staging protests calling for Pivovarov’s release. In Moscow, Solidarity leaders Ilya Yashin, Sergei Davidis, and Mikhail Shneyder held solitary pickets – the only type of protest that doesn’t require government sanction to be held legally – while Solidarity leader Boris Nemtsov joined in ongoing pickets in St. Petersburg. The group plans to continue protesting so long as Pivovarov remains under arrest.

Two separate Strategy 31 rallies were held in St. Petersburg on October 31. One at Gostiny Dvor was attended by approximately 1000 people, by organizers’ estimates. Police began arresting the demonstrators immediately after the rally began. According to St. Petersburg police, only about 120 people came out to the rally, 104 of whom were detained.

A second rally at Dvortsovaya Square was attended by about 300 people. Police began detaining activists after they unfurled a 30-meter Russian flag.

Other rallies in the Strategy 31 campaign were held on Sunday across the country, including in the cities of Moscow, Vladivostok, Kurgan, Penza, Murmansk, Tver, Ekaterinburg, Samara, Astrakhan, Sochi, Ryazan, Krasnodarsk, and others.