MOSCOW (AP) — Police in Moscow have detained a leading opposition figure as she was heading to an unauthorized rally protesting the exclusion of independent and opposition candidates from the Moscow city council election.

Lyubov Sobol, who is one of the aspirants rejected from the ballot, was detained Saturday in central Moscow and taken away in a police van.

The rally attempt comes a week after police detained nearly 1,400 protesters, beating some of them with truncheons.

Despite repeated warnings that police would take active measures against a protest on Saturday, activists aim to hold a march for about four kilometers (2.5 miles) along the Boulevard Ring that circles central Moscow and is a popular area to stroll.