"Everyone who holds any rallies should know that they should only act within the framework of the law. Both the law enforcement bodies and the organizers of the rallies should bear this in mind," Putin said at a Russian Interior Ministry meeting.
According to him, the upcoming presidential election is a "very important domestic event."
"Every citizen has their own opinion on what they should do in the pre-election process, on how to express opinions, and all means of expressing this opinion, envisaged by the law, should be guaranteed by the law and the actions of law enforcement bodies," the president said.
Besides incumbent President Vladimir Putin, seven other candidates will participate in Russia's presidential election that is scheduled for March 2018. For Russia's region of Crimea, the vore will be the first since it rejoined Russia in 2014.
READ MORE: Norwegian Observers Plan to Monitor Russian Elections in Crimea — Lawmaker
The move comes after the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE ODIHR), which will send international observers to monitor the upcoming Russian vote, said last December, it would not observe the vote in Crimea, since there is no consensus on the issue between the organization’s members, which is required for the ODIHR election monitoring mandate.
