Russian protesters say officials lift ban on march

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Anti-Kremlin protesters will hold a demonstration during a summit between Russia and the European Union on Friday, they said in a statement on Monday after local authorities lifted a ban on the march.

The administration of the southern Russian city of Samara, where the meeting will be held, backtracked on its original decision last Friday after Germany, which holds the presidency of the EU, called on Russia to allow the "March of the Dissenters," protester Marina Litvinovich said.

"For us, this is a great victory," said Litvinovich, a senior member of the United Civil Front opposition group led by former world chess champion Garry Kasparov. "We've obtained exactly the route we wanted."

Samara authorities had initially banned the march, saying it would block a central road.

Russian and foreign media have reported that Germany called on the Russian authorities to allow the march.

The campaigners said police continued intimidating the protest's organizers despite the permission, detaining eight activists from various opposition groups at the weekend.

Police have also detained the editor-in-chief of a Samara opposition newspaper, the protesters said.

Samara police said last Wednesday they had detained eight people for distributing leaflets. The leaflets, some of them promoting the march, stirred up racial or ethnic hatred or contravened the correct procedure for public assembly, police said.