Moscow, February 19 (Interfax) - An opposition rally on Pushkin Square in the center of Moscow passed without incidents on Feb.19.
Anastasia Udaltsova, a press secretary of the opposition group Left Front, which was among the rally organizers, said some 400 people took part.
The speakers criticized the ongoing police reform and a new draft educational standard for high-school students and demanded dismissal of the Interior Ministry leadership.
One of those speaking at the rally said the presidential candidates in the elections to be held in 2012 should include prominent opposition leaders Mikhail Kasyanov Garry Kasparov Boris Nemtsov and former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky
Some activists also criticized the construction of the Moscow-St. Petersburg motorway across the Khimki forest outside Moscow.
Most demonstrators have already left the square, and policemen are asking others to clear the place. The square is still cordoned off, and numerous policemen and Interior Forces soldiers remain deployed on nearby streets and in underpasses.
