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6 Opposition Activists Detained in Moscow After One-Person Pickets

Russian police detain a protester against Russian President Vladimir Putin after she took part in a lone picket in central Moscow, April 19, 2015. Maxim Zmeyev / Reuters

Police in Moscow have detained at least six people for holding what the political opposition described as “one-person pickets” commemorating murdered dissident leader Boris Nemtsov and denouncing the rule of President Vladimir Putin.

Two protesters were detained on Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge, where Nemtsov was shot and killed on Feb. 27, including a woman holding a poster that read: “Publish the names of Boris Nemtsov's murderers,” the OVDInfo news site reported Sunday.

Another four people were detained on Tverskaya Ulitsa, one of the main streets in the city, according to OVDInfo.

One-person rallies are exempt from Russia's ban on unauthorized gatherings, making one-person protests a favored tool among political opposition.

But most of the detainees on Sunday were seized for the “content” of the signs they were holding, the opposition-minded Grani.ru news site reported.

The signs included one that compared Russia's president to the Nazi leader, reading: “Putin is Hitler today,” according to onlookers who witnessed the protester's detention, OVDInfo reported.

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