Moscow authorities on Wednesday said that they will not allow the opposition to stage a rally on Bolotnaya Ploshchad on May 6 and warned that there will be "consequences" if an unsanctioned meeting goes ahead.
"We will inform the prosecutor's office and other law enforcement agencies … so that everyone understands the consequences that await them if they attend an unsanctioned rally," said Alexei Maiorov, head of security and anti-corruption at City Hall, Interfax reported.
Members of the opposition gathered on May 6 last year to show support for the defendants in the so-called Bolotnaya case, which has seen several people convicted for their alleged role in violent clashes that took place between demonstrators and police at an anti-Putin rally on Bolotnaya Ploshchad in May 2012.
Opposition activist Pyotr Tsarkov said it was possible that people would still attempt to meet on Bolotnaya Ploshchad on May 6, despite City Hall's refusal to sanction the gathering, Interfax reported.
Authorities offered to let the opposition hold a rally on Prospekt Sakharova, but organizers refused to agree to the compromise, Tsarkov said in a message posted to Twitter.
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