A protest march in support of the ‘Bolotnaya square’ defendants and other political prisoners took place in central Moscow yesterday.

Protesters used a megaphone to read out the names of political prisoners and among those who were mentioned were the ‘Bolotnaya square’ defendants, the imprisoned members of the Pussy Riot band, the detained Greenpeace activists and Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev.

Denis Zommer, the Leftists Forum coordinator, said that citizens’ support was essential to those activists who found themselves under arrest. He said that they would continue to fight for the freedom of Russia’s political prisoners.

According to Boris Nemtsov, the leader of the Solidarity movement, the principal demand of the protesters is an amnesty for all political prisoners.

Unofficial figures vary as to the number of protesters – with anything from 7 to 13 thousand people participating.

The protest march passed without incident and no-one was detained by the police.