MOSCOW/KHABAROVSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th July, 2020) Up to 12,000 people joined an unsanctioned rally in the Russian Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk on Saturday to support arrested governor Sergey Furgal, who is suspected of organizing killings of entrepreneurs in the early 2000s, the regional office of the Interior Ministry said.
The rally, staged by the governor's team, was held despite the coronavirus-related ban on mass public gatherings. The event lasted for over four hours.
"In the Khabarovsk Territory, between 10,000 and 12,000 people took part in unauthorized mass events organized by the team of S.I. Furgal," the ministry's regional office said.
Meanwhile, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, of which Furgal is a member, denied any involvement in organizing any illegal events in the Khabarovsk Territory. The party asserts that it intends to act only in accordance with law.
Furgal was detained on Thursday as part of the probe into an organized criminal group involved in killings of businesspeople in the Khabarovsk Territory and the Amur region in 2004-2005. On Friday, a Moscow court arrested the official for two months. The governor pleads not guilty.
