Putin spokesman critical of police
A spokesman for President Vladimir V. Putin said some police overreacted during weekend opposition demonstrations, in which some participants were beaten by club-wielding officers and hundreds were detained.
The harsh response to so-called Dissenters’ Marches in Moscow and St. Petersburg drew wide criticism from human rights groups and reinforced opposition contentions that Russia under Putin is strangling democracy ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections taking place within the next year.
“I think that some overreaction really took place,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a TV appearance.
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