LEAD: Putin: Protests "nothing unusual;" 20 arrested in Moscow

Dec 31, 2011, 15:37 GMT

Moscow - At least 20 people were arrested at anti-government protests in Moscow on Saturday, while Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said such demonstrations were 'nothing unusual.'

'This is the price of democracy. There is nothing unusual here,' Putin said in a New Year's message, after a disputed parliamentary election in December prompted mass protests against his rule.

Regime-critical writer Eduard Limonov, of the banned Other Russia political bloc, was among those arrested, Itar-Tass news agency reported.

The demonstration - which had not been authorized - was part of a regular protest, held on the 31st of each month to highlight Article 31 of the Russian constitution, which guarantees freedom of assembly.

Hours earlier, a huge police presence had blocked off Moscow's central Triumph Square. Nevertheless, several dozen - mostly young - protesters gathered near an underground station, carrying placards with political slogans.

Several dozen people took to the street in St Petersburg, the country's second-largest city, but the mood remained calm. About 50 people demonstrated in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, 400 kilometres east of Moscow, including Kremlin critic and former vice president Boris Nemtsov and his mother.

Throughout December, huge demonstrations took place in Moscow and other cities to denounce Putin's political domination after the opposition complained of mass fraud by the ruling United Russia party during a December 4 parliamentary vote.

United Russia's majority in parliament shrank after the vote. However, Putin is expected to return to the presidency in a March 4 vote.

'Irrespective of political affiliations: I wish well-being and prosperity to all who are sympathetic to left forces, those who are on the right side, above, below and anywhere,' Putin said in his New Year address - in a clear reference to his political opponents.