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Police in the Far Eastern Russian city of Khabarovsk detained several dozen protesters on Oct. 10 — the first such crackdown since rallies against the arrest of the provincial governor started three months ago. The city on the Chinese border has seen regular protests since Governor Sergei Furgal was arrested on July 9 on decades-old murder-related charges and taken to Moscow. Furgal has denied the charges, which his supporters say were engineered by his opponents with help from the Kremlin. Thousands marched through the city chanting slogans, such as “Wake up, Russia” and “[President Vladimir] Putin’s a thief.” They also briefly held a rally in front of the municipal offices before police in riot gear intervened. Later in the evening, several hundred protesters gathered again on the main square, defying warnings from police that the demonstration wasn’t authorized.
