Two journalists detained on Sunday in the northwestern Russian city of St. Petersburg have been released, one of them told RIA Novosti on Monday.
“We have been charged with disobedience to police and let go,” ITAR-TASS news agency correspondent Ivan Skirtach said.
Police on Sunday detained Skirtach and RBC Daily newspaper correspondent Sergei Kovalchenko, saying they defied law enforcers’ orders. The reporters denied any wrongdoing, saying they were fulfilling their duties.
About an hour before an authorized protest rally in downtown St. Petersburg, Left Front opposition movement leader Sergei Udaltsov started inviting supporters to the event.
Udaltsov and his supporters wanted to walk along the city streets to the rally’s venue, but police said they violated the new law on rallies and detained 13 people including Udaltsov, some of his supporters and the journalists. Later another 20 people were detained near the police station where the first detainees were held.
Skirtach said the other detainees remain at the police station and it is not known when there will be a date for a court hearing related to the case.
