Several Moscow State University students who attempted to greet President Dmitry Medvedev's arrival on campus with tough questions were detained by police Thursday.
The journalism students were detained by officers of the Federal Guard Service near the journalism department building after appearing with posters bearing questions such as, "Why do you tweet while Khodorkovsky rots in jail?" and "Why did you fire [Finance Minister Alexei] Kudrin?" opposition activist Vitaly Shushkevich on his Twitter microblog.
The students had wanted to challenge Medvedev, who was making an unscheduled visit to the journalism department, but they ended up sitting in detention cells or being held in a classroom, Shushkevich told Lenta.ru.
Student Irina Chitayeva said only seven members of the journalism department met with Medvedev, and they were vetted by the Federal Guard Service and the presidential administration beforehand, Radio Liberty reported.
The majority of those who met with Medvedev were bussed in from other universities or came from pro-Kremlin youth groups such as Nashi, Gazeta.ru reported.
After Medvedev arrived around 4:15 p.m., students were not allowed into the building's courtyard, let alone the building itself, a student said, Lenta.ru reported.
Alexander Yarosh, a Nashi official who was at the event, wrote on his Twitter microblog that Medvedev discussed subsidies for the Caucasus and said he was going to create a page on the Russian social network Vkontakte. He wrote that 170 students attended the event.
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