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19 arrested in rally in memory of killed football fan in Moscow

© RIA Novosti . Mikhail Fomichev / Go to the mediabankRally to commemorate the death of football fan Yegor Sviridov
Rally to commemorate the death of football fan Yegor Sviridov - Sputnik International
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A total of 19 participants of a rally to commemorate the death of football fan Yegor Sviridov were arrested in Moscow, a police spokesman Viktor Biryukov said.

A total of 19 participants of a rally to commemorate the death of football fan Yegor Sviridov were arrested in Moscow, a police spokesman Viktor Biryukov said.

Sviridov was shot dead in a brawl with migrants from Russia's mainly Muslim North Caucasus region. The incident sparked race-hate riots and ethnic clashes across Russia in December, including a brawl between over 5,000 football supporters and police outside the Kremlin walls. Forty days have passed since his death.

The rally was held on Saturday morning on the Moscow Kronstadt Boulevard, where Sviridov was killed.

"A total of 19 people were arrested," Biryukov said adding that the police is establishing whether they were involved in riots on the Moscow Manezh Square.

Biryukov said that the rally, where some 400 participants and about 150 media representatives took part was peaceful.

Contrary to expectations, the rally is not being run by the Spartak Moscow fans group, Fratria, which Sviridov was a member of. In s a statement, Fratria said it refused to have anything to do with the gathering and pledged that its members would not be involved.

Fratria urged football fans to remain vigilant as "lots of provocateurs who want to make hay out of the tragedy to our comrade are currently positioned next to us."

One of the persons behind the rally is Artur Grohovsky, assistant chairman of the liberal Yabloko party. Earlier, Gorokhovsky told RIA Novosti that up to 4,500 people would take part in the rally and dismissed fears that the event could result in a new wave of race-hate violence.

Also on Saturday a similar authorized peaceful rally was held in Russia's second largest city of St. Petersburg.

MOSCOW, January 15 (RIA Novosti) 

 

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