Several detained in central Moscow following feminist rally

Several people were detained in central Moscow on Friday after the end of a rally previously cleared by the authorities. According to some Russian media, the solitary pickets had been arranged in support for women's rights and the convicted members of the Pussy Riot female punk band.

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"About 100 people were taking part in a rally in Novopushkinsky Park on Friday, which had been agreed upon with executive authorities. At the end of the rally, a group of people appeared and started chanting mottos not previously cleared and violating the rules for holding rallies," the Moscow city police said.

The organizers stopped the rally and urged the demonstrators to disperse, he said.

The people who violated rally rules were brought to a police station, where a procedural decision should be made in their relation.

Some online media reported earlier that a rally under the motto 'Feminism Is Liberation' had been planned in Moscow on Friday.

The Yabloko party press service said in a statement later in the day that "police detained 17 participants in a rally in support for women's rights, which was arranged at the Yabloko party's initiative in Novopushkinsky Park today."

"Most of those detained are anarcho-feminists, who were distributing a feminist newspaper," it said."The detentions were also provoked by so-called Orthodox activists."

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