police:all protesters detained during Moscow rally released

All those detained during a protest rally in central Moscow on Wednesday have been released, a police official said. Moscow police detained 12 people for "serious violations of order," including attempts to block a road, during the unauthorized Strategy-31 rally at Moscow's Triumfalnaya Square. The detainees have been charged with administrative offences, the official said. According to police estimates, the rally was attended by 50 protesters and covered by "100 journalists and bloggers." Russian opposition groups rally in downtown Moscow on the last day of each month that has 31 days in defense of their right to freedom of assembly, as enshrined in Article 31 of the Russian Constitution. Police was urging protesters to disperse peacefully all the way through the rally, which lasted for almost two and half hours. Ahead of the demonstration, police called on the protesters to scarp their rally as it could "irritate" parents preparing to send their children to school on Thursday, the start of the new academic year in Russia.