MOSCOW: Hundreds of people including top Krem­lin critic Alexei Navalny were arrested on Sunday as thousands of Russians defi­ed bans to stage protests across the country against corruption.

Navalny had called for the marches after publishing a detailed report this month accusing Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of controlling a property empire through a shadowy network of non-profit organisations.

The report has been viewed over 11 million times on YouTube, but so far Medvedev has made no comment on the claims.

Sunday’s march in Mos­cow was one of the biggest unauthorised demonstrations in recent years, with police putting turnout at 7,000-8,000 people.

Police detained Navalny, who has announced plans to run for president in the 2018 election, as he was walking to the protest, putting him in a police minibus.

The crowd briefly tried to block it from driving off, shouting “Shame!” and “Let him out!” “Guys, I am all right, go on along Tverskaya,” Navalny tweeted from the van. Police said about 500 people had been arrested in Moscow a website that monitors the detention of activists, said at least 700 had been detained, as well as dozens in other cities.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2017