Alva Review-Courier -

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities are cracking down on dissent before a crucial parliamentary election in September, in what a leading Kremlin critic on Tuesday described as an attempt to sideline opponents.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a Russian tycoon who moved to London after spending a decade in prison in Russia on charges widely seen as political revenge for challenging President Vladimir Putin's rule, said the latest moves against opposition activists reflected the authorities' concern about the waning popularity of the main Kremlin-directed party, United Russia.

Khodorkovsky told The Associate...