Putin's Rights Adviser Calls For Minister's Resignation

Ella Pamfilova (file photo) (official site) April 23, 2007 -- A prominent human rights adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for the resignation of Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev over the police's heavy-handed response to recent opposition protests.

In an interview in the "Kommersant" daily, Ella Pamfilova says police illegally beat up and detained protesters during the so-called March of Dissent rallies in Moscow and St. Petersburg on April 14 and 15.

The State Duma is due on April 24 to form a commission to investigate police abuse during the rallies.

March organizers said today that they intend to hold a new rally in the center of Nizhny Novgorod on April 28, despite an official ban.

(Interfax, "Kommersant")

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