Activists condemn Putin's Russia

Vladimir Putin says Russia needs state and society to be firm

Prominent human rights activists in Russia have accused President Vladimir Putin of suppressing dissent and called on the West to put pressure on him.

They said "democratic countries" should do all they could to prevent Russia "sliding into the totalitarian past".

The appeal was posted on the website of the Moscow Helsinki Group - which was founded during the Soviet era, in 1976.

Mr Putin, a former Soviet agent, has denied accusations of authoritarianism and human rights abuses in Chechnya.

While stressing law and order and the fight against terrorism, he has repeatedly vowed to respect democracy.

Wednesday's appeal, however, warned against "the establishment of a dictatorial regime dangerous for Russia and for all international society".

The appeal was signed by Moscow Helsinki group Lyudmila Alexeyeva and other Soviet-era dissidents.

Supporters also included Nobel physics prize winner Vitaly Ginzburg and chess champion Garry Kasparov.

They condemned the "suppression of democratic institutions" and said "unprecedented attacks, both physical and verbal, on lawyers" had taken place.

The appeal called on the West to recognise tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and four other convicted criminals as political prisoners.