Over 30 people were detained in southern Moscow after staging a rally in protest at the jailing of a prominent Russian opposition leader, a police spokesman said on Tuesday.
"Thirty-five participants of the unsanctioned picket were taken to a police station," the spokesman said.
Boris Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister turned opposition leader, was arrested after an officially sanctioned anti-Kremlin rally in Moscow's Triumfalnaya Square on New Year's Eve and sentenced for 15 days in jail for "disobeying police instructions."
In total, police in Moscow arrested 68 people, while over 50 were detained at a demonstration in St. Petersburg, which did not have a permit.
The authorities said those arrested in Moscow were going to another, unsanctioned rally.
Protesters have been rallying outside a jailhouse where Nemtsov is being held for two days.
The March of Dissent rallies take place in Moscow and St. Petersburg on the last day of every month with 31 days, in honor of Article 31 of the Russian Constitution, which guarantees the right to free assembly.
The United States has expressed "regret" over Nemtsov's jailing, according to U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley.
"President [Barack] Obama met with Boris Nemtsov in Moscow in July 2009 and continues to admire his work in promoting democratic development in Russia," U.S. National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer said on Monday.
MOSCOW, January 4 (RIA Novosti)
