[Al Ahram] The head of a top Russian rights group and the leader of an opposition party said Saturday they had been assaulted by riot police during a night-time raid on the non-profit group in the latest crackdown on activists during Vladimir Putin's new term.In a raid that started Friday afternoon and lasted into the early hours of Saturday, dozens of men swept the offices of rights group For Human Rights and assaulted some 10 people including the group's head Lev Ponomaryov and leader of the Yabloko opposition party Sergei Mitrokhin.
Mitrokhin, who plans to run against incumbent pro-Kremlin Moscow mayor in polls this fall, showed up at the central Moscow offices in support of the embattled group who had been told to vacate the premises in a dispute with the city authorities over rent.
The liberal politician suggested the representatives of Russian special services were coordinating the raid and accused the Kremlin of being behind the attack.