Posted on December 6, 2011 - by Venik
Russian police and troops mass in Moscow before protest
Opposition leaders plan a second protest a day after 8,000 demonstrated against alleged election fraud and Putin’s rule
Thousands of police and interior ministry troops have been deployed on the streets of Moscow before a second planned protest against Vladimir Putin’s expected return to the presidency.
Protesters planned to gather at 7pm (3pm GMT) at Triumfalnaya Square in central Moscow, one day after liberal opposition leaders held their largest ever demonstration, with up to 8,000 people calling for Putin’s removal by chanting: “Russia without Putin!”
Riot police violently arrested 300 people in the wake of the protest. Courts began sentencing the arrested on Tuesday, including the opposition leader Ilya Yashin, who was given 15 days for failing to follow police orders.
Alexey Navalny, a popular anti-corruption activist, also faced a 15-day sentence. He is seen as the de facto leader of a growing movement against Putin and United Russia, the ruling party.
The Kremlin appears to be taken aback at the public challenge to its rule and the widespread protests over allegations of voter fraud in Sunday’s parliamentary elections.
Among those deployed on Tuesday was the interior ministry’s Dzerzhinsky division, named after the notorious founder of the KGB, which focuses on suppressing mass protests.
Russian internet users uploaded pictures to their blogs and Twitter showing lorries loaded with water cannon lining the streets of Moscow. “Because of permitted mass gatherings and to prevent possible attempts at unauthorised gatherings, the total number of mobile reserves has been increased, including interior troops,” a police spokesman told the Itar-Tass news agency.
The Kremlin organised counter-protests on Tuesday, with up to 15,000 activists from the youth group Nashi, and its subdivision Stal taking to the streets of central Moscow.
“We don’t want a revolution,” said one Stal activist, who only gave his name as Rauf and said he was brought to the capital from St Petersburg for the rally. “We believe in our future – the election was clean.”
Opposition protesters have seized on the results of a parliamentary election on Sunday, which saw United Russia’s support drop just below 50%. The vote has been marred by widespread allegations of violations and fraud.
Meeting United Russia members on Tuesday, Putin acknowledged the party’s loss of support and said it was “inevitable”. “They are inevitable for any political force, particularly for the one which has been carrying the burden of responsibility for the situation in the country,” he said.
“In today’s conditions, the [election] result is good. We see and know what’s happening, and it seemed not long ago at all that in countries with a more stable economy and social sphere, millions of people go out into the streets,” he said.
Putin has in the past credited the party and government with preventing the sort of protests that gripped parts of the eurozone as the financial crisis worsened. He appeared to directly address the popular nickname that Navalny coined for United Russia – “the party of crooks and thieves”.
“They say that the party of power is a party linked with theft, with corruption,” Putin said. “If we remember the Soviet years – who was in power then? Everyone called them thieves and corrupted.”
The United Russia party was due to gather a protest in support of “clean elections” on Tuesday evening. Members of the liberal Yabloko party, which failed to win any seats in Sunday’s vote, said they would join the anti-government protest later. Similar protests were organised around Russia on Tuesday.
Popularity: unranked [?]
Related posts:
- Russian police and troops clash with protesters in Moscow
- Russian election: police, troops and youth groups stifle anti-Putin protests
- Russian police arrest 35 to prevent protest at Moscow mayor’s office
- Russian police ‘arrest mother and children over forest protest’
- Russian police break up protests and detain ringleaders
