Russian police block anti-Putin march

By James Kilner

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian police detained opposition leader and former world chess champion Garry Kasparov on Saturday when they broke up an anti-Kremlin protest eight days before Russia's parliamentary election.

Scuffles broke out between police and protesters in central Moscow after around 3,000 people tried to march to the central election commission's headquarters.

"No election. For Russia. Against Putin," shouted the protesters, organized by the opposition Other Russia group, which accuses Russian President Vladimir Putin of destroying personal liberties and the freedom of the press.

The umbrella group, which unites Kremlin opponents from liberal free market thinkers to anarchists, also says a parliamentary election scheduled for December 2 is unfairly weighted towards pro-Putin party United Russia.

Police have cracked down on Other Russia marches this year, hitting protesters with batons and detaining hundreds, but they recently adopted a softer approach. On Saturday they kept their distance until a squad of riot police blocked the march.

Plain clothes police roughly pushed and pulled people into vans and police armed with batons grabbed protest leaders.

Kasparov, a leader of Other Russia, was charged with public order offences and police said they would hold him for five days, said his spokeswoman.

Police detained about 60 protesters, a Kasparov spokesman said. Police declined to comment.