You're reading: Russian police break up Occupy-style protest

MOSCOW - Kremlin critics put an Occupy Wall Street twist on a protest in the Russian capital over next month's parliamentary election on Monday, but the result was the same as usual: dispersal and detention.

Police forcefully broke up a small rally by government opponents who donned the kind of mustachioed Guy Fawkes masks popular with anti-greed protesters in London, New York and other cities.

About a dozen protesters gathered outside the Central Election Commission headquarters and announced plans to "Occupy Old Square" — a square nearby that houses presidential administration offices.

There have been few major Occupy Wall Street-style rallies in Russia, and despite the spin on Monday’s protest, the protesters made clear their message was about the Dec. 4 parliamentary election. They chanted "Cancel the illegal elections!" and held placards with similar slogans.

In an echo of other recent protests over the election — without the masks — the demonstrators were quickly seized by camouflage-clad police and shoved roughly into a waiting bus. Police said they violated the law by holding a rally without official permission.

Kremlin critics say that the parliamentary election will not be democratic, saying vociferous opposition groups have been barred from the vote illegally. They also charge that Vladimir Putin’s dominant United Russia party will use its levers of power to skew the results in its favour.

The parliamentary vote will be followed by a March 2012 presidential election in which Putin is expected to return to the Kremlin after four years as prime minister.

The tiny protest outside the Central Election Commission headquarters was far smaller than a march and rally celebrating the anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917.

Police said about 4,000 people took part in the state-sanctioned rally organized by the Communist Party, which polls indicate will come in a distant second to United Russia in the parliamentary vote, as in previous elections.

Nov. 7 was a major holiday in the Soviet era, but it is no longer a day off and the Kremlin has replaced it with a Nov. 4 holiday that officially commemorates the 17th century expulsion of Polish invaders.