Greater Ozarks MFA Agri Services – Ozark, AshGrove, Marshfield, Springfield.

Protests Call for Fair Moscow Elections08/17 09:04

   MOSCOW (AP) -- About 4,000 people have held a rally in Moscow to demand 
fairness in upcoming city council elections, and solo pickets protesting the 
exclusion of some opposition and independent candidates are taking place at 
prominent monuments.

   The actions Saturday have been much smaller and less heated than recent 
weekend protests over the issue. Two unauthorized demonstrations were 
previously harshly broken up by police, with more than 2,000 people detained 
altogether; a sanctioned demonstration last week attracted as many as 60,000 
people, the largest protest in several years.

   The authorized rally on Saturday was organized by the Communist Party. The 
solo pickets are following a law that demonstrations by a single person do not 
require official permission.

   No detentions have been reported.


(KR)