Over 500 people protesting for free and fair poll detained in Moscow

More than 500 people including opposition figures and city council election candidates were detained by police on Saturday during a protest in the heart of the city, demanding free and fair elections.

The demonstration, which was subsequently declared illegal by authorities, came after a number of independent and opposition candidates were banned from contesting the municipal elections slated to be held in September, CNN reported.

A Russian democracy monitoring organisation, OVD-info, said that as many as 561 people have been detained so far during the protest.

Police were dispatched to the centre of Moscow city, closing down streets from the City Hall, the planned protest site, leading to clashes with the protesters.

Demonstrators defied the ban and chanted anti-government slogans while calling for the transparent electoral process.

Police said that around 3,500 people had participated in the demonstration, including 700 journalists and bloggers.

Before Saturday's protest, police had carried out arrests and raids on opposition candidates.

This was the second protest in a week which took place in the Russian capital after a similar demonstration was held by around 20,000 people calling for free local elections on July 20.

Opposition leader Alexey Navalny, Russian President Vladimir Putin's most vocal critic, was arrested on Wednesday and sent to prison for 30 days after he called for the Saturday's protest in front of the City Hall.

The 43-year-old anti-corruption lawyer had taken part in the July 20 protest.