ACTIVIST HELD OVER RED SQUARE PROTEST STUNT

A Russian court on Sunday ordered an anti-kremlin performance artist to be held in custody for two months on suspicion of hooliganism after he was arrested on Red Square where he had simulated shooting himself in the head in a political protest.

The activist, Pavel Krisevich, was detained on Friday after firing blanks into the air and then at his head, according to one of his friends.

The Open Media news outlet reported that Krisevich had prepared a manifesto that said the performance was designed to draw attention to what he cast as unacceptable state repression.

Authorities have cracked down hard on anti-kremlin activism this year, declaring jailed politician Alexei Navalny’s activist network “extremist” and prosecuting several of his allies.