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Luzhkov denies giving order to disperse Moscow opposition rallies

© RIA Novosti . Alexei Nikolskiy / Go to the mediabankFormer Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov
Former Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov - Sputnik International
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Former Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov, sacked by President Dmitry Medvedev last week, said he was not responsible for the break up of opposition rallies in the centre of the capital.

Former Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov, sacked by President Dmitry Medvedev last week, said he was not responsible for the break up of opposition rallies in the centre of the capital.

"I did not give any commands. I am not a representative of the law enforcement bodies," Luzhkov said in an interview with Russia's The New Times magazine.

"I am the mayor, the person who takes the decision on whether to allow something or not. Subsequent executive procedures are realized without my orders."

Russian opposition groups rally on Triumfalnaya Square on the last day of each month that has 31 days in defense of their right to freedom of assembly, as enshrined in Article 31 of the Russian Constitution.

Permission is seldom granted, however, making most opposition rallies "unsanctioned" by the authorities, who frequently send riot police in to deal with protesters.

Commentators say Medvedev's sacking of Luzhkov, formerly one of the most powerful politicians in Russia, may have been a bid to boost his authority ahead of the 2012 presidential polls.

Relations between the long-serving Moscow mayor and Medvedev are believed to have soured after a September article by Luzhkov in the government daily Rossiiskaya Gazeta hinted at criticism of the leadership tandem of Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

According to some reports, the Kremlin was also angered by Luzhkov's opposition to Medvedev's decision to halt the construction of a controversial highway to St. Petersburg cutting through a forest north of Moscow.

 

MOSCOW, October 4 (RIA Novosti)

 

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