MOSCOW, June 12 (RIA Novosti) - The Moscow police said they launched an administrative procedure against an officially approved Sunday protest in support for Mikhail Khodorkovsky, former CEO of dismembered oil giant Yukos recently sentenced to nine years for fraud and tax evasion.
The police said the number of protesters, who gathered on the Lubyanskaya Ploshchad in the center of the city, in front of Russia's state security headquarters, had almost four times exceeded the self-imposed limit of 250.
"An administrative procedure was started because of violations of the protest rules," a police official told RIA Novosti, "On June 14, the court will decide whether the organizer should be subject to an administrative punishment."
In compliance with the Russian Administrative Code, such violations lead to a fine of 1,000 rubles ($35.14, or �28.74) to 2,000 rubles ($70.27, or �57.49).
