Thousands of people marched in Russia’s Far East city of Khabarovsk on Saturday to demand the release of the popular regional governor. He was arrested last week on suspicion of murder. Sergei Furgal, who belongs to the Liberal Democratic Party, is the governor of the Khabarovsk region. He achieved this position in the year 2018 by defeating an opponent supported by the ruling United Russia Party of President Vladimir Putin.
Furgal was taken to Moscow last week. He has been accused of being involved in planning murder 15 years ago. If the charges against him are proved, he could be sentenced to life imprisonment. However, he has denied the allegations.
Such demonstrations are coming three weeks after Putin got a unilateral victory in the Constitution amendment. With the approval of the Constitution amendment, the path has been cleared for Putin to continue in office for 16 more years. Thousands of people demonstrated in Moscow last week against the constitutional amendment. After which the police arrested dozens of people.
At the same time, about ten thousand people organized a demonstration against President Vladimir Putin last Saturday in the far eastern region of Russia. The protesters were demanding resignation from Putin. They also demanded the release of the regional governor, who was arrested on suspicion of murder last week.