Out of the several thousand who came out in protest of the immediate arrest of Alexei Navalny, 3500 protesters were arrested by the police in a global crackdown.
Police were seen beating protesters with truncheons and violence breaking out in some select areas with several injured. Based on Police reports close to 4000 people, while Reuters reported as many as 40000 people came out in protest in what they consider an injustice against Alexei Navalny. The number of protesters is still a major source of contention.
Alexei Navalny was arrested immediately after he arrived from the airport upon his return to Russia after a near-death nerve agent poisoning that was intended to claim his life.
Navalny, Putin’s major opposition, is being charged with new fraud charges that could see him serve a 10-year jail sentence for misappropriation of $4.8 million that was allegedly acquired from his Anti-corruption Foundation.
Alexei alleges that his Novichok poisoning was orchestrated by the Kremlin, an allegation Putin has vehemently denied.
