Lines of riot police officers in body armor and helmets blocked the streets of central Moscow on Saturday, arresting more than 1,300 demonstrators — chasing some of them down alleys — to blunt a protest over the fairness of coming city elections.
“We love Russia! They love money!” protesters chanted, a reference to widespread anger over government corruption. Others sat in the streets, awaiting arrest and reading copies of the Constitution.
The spark for Saturday’s protest was a decision by election authorities to bar several opposition candidates from running for Moscow’s City Council, asserting that they had falsified signatures on petitions to run — a charge the candidates denied.
The authorities were prepared to suppress Saturday’s rally and its leaders.
Aleksei A. Navalny, the opposition leader who had called the demonstration, was arrested on Wednesday and sentenced to 30 days in jail. Other prominent opposition politicians — including Ilya V. Yashin, Dmitry G. Gudkov and Ivan Y. Zhdanov — were also rounded up before the event and released only late in the evening.
