When it comes to finely calibrated police brutality, Moscow’s riot cops are masters of the art. When several thousand Muscovites gathered on Manezh Square just before New Year’s Eve to protest the jailing of a leading opposition activist, the paramilitary police were ready and waiting. Two hundred “troublemakers” were picked out of the crowd and quickly arrested by police spotters armed with photos grabbed from Facebook and earlier protests.
When veteran anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny emerged from the metro to lead the protest, a wedge of officers piled hard and fast into the crowd to grab him. Within just 14 seconds, …read more
Source: Newsweek
