An opposition movement and a TV station said that the Russian police arrested about 150 independent politicians and opposition figures in Moscow today, Saturday, and accused them of having links with "an undesirable organization."
The arrests came amid a crackdown on Kremlin opponents after the arrest and imprisonment of opposition politician Alexei Navalny, who returned to Russia in January after being treated for poisoning in a nerve gas attack in Siberia.
Andrei Pivovarov, who organized the meeting, which was due to resume on Sunday, told the Echo Moscow radio station that the forum was a gathering of members of municipal councils across Russia.
Bevofarov is executive director of the British-based "Open Russia" group founded by exiled oil tycoon and Kremlin opponent Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
During the forum, the police entered the building and began arresting the attendees and taking them to their cars waiting outside, according to what appeared in video clips by TV Ryan and Russian news agencies.
The OVD-info group, which monitors the arrest of political protesters, published a list of more than 150 it said they had been arrested.
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