Russia: Abseilers with knives cut down election banners

Moscow authorities have ordered knife-wielding abseilers to cut down opposition banners from balconies, it appears.

Anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny had complained that some Russian media was refusing to carry his election advertising ahead of next month's Moscow mayoral elections. So he called on supporters to hang banners bearing his name from their balconies as an effective way of electioneering. However, his main rival, acting mayor Sergey Sobyanin, ordered officials to make sure that candidates' election advertising only appeared in places "specifically provided" for it.

Those who did as Navalny asked were shocked to find men dangling off ropes outside their windows, some wielding knives. And some posted videos online revealing Muscovites arguing with the industrial climbers. Footage obtained by Russian news site Lenta shows officials and police looking up from the ground as one abseiler tears down a banner. The Navalny supporters argued that both the banners and the balconies were their private property, but to little effect. Navalny is only able to campaign because he was unexpectedly released from jail, pending an appeal against a five-year sentence for embezzlement. He argues it was politically-motivated.

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