Russia 110201 Basic Political Developments

Washington 'troubled' by arrests of protesters in Russia

http://en.rian.ru/world/20110201/162401960.html
10:47 01/02/2011

The United States has voiced concerns over detentions of opposition protestors in Moscow, saying the move amounts to the "intimidation" of peaceful protesters.

"The United States is troubled by reports that dozens of people were detained in Moscow and other cities around Russia in connection with "Strategy 31" demonstrations," National Security Council Spokesman Tommy Vietor said.

Russian opposition and human rights activists rally on the last day of every month with 31 days in honor of Article 31 of the Russian Constitution, which guarantees freedom of assembly.

Opposition leader Eduard Limonov and his supporters held protests around an officially sanctioned rally at Moscow's downtown Triumfalnaya Square on Monday after their application to hold a separate rally was rejected. Limonov and twenty of his backers were subsequently detained.

Limonov and his supporters were later released.

"These steps amount to intimidation of those who choose to exercise their fundamental rights as citizens, enshrined in the Russian constitution and in its international commitments," Vietor said.

Vietor said the latest events run counter to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's recent comments on widening the political spectrum and urged Russia to "act to safeguard the fundamental freedoms of expression and assembly for all citizens."

Washington also expressed concern over reports that the detainees were "mistreated" and "beaten" by police. Moscow police denied the accusations and said the activists were detained as they attempted to block entry to the sanctioned protest.

WASHINGTON, February 1 (RIA Novosti)

US raises concern over arrest of protesters in Russia

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12331481

1 February 2011 Last updated at 07:32 GMT

The United States is expressing concern about the way Russia is treating opposition protesters following the arrest of dozens of demonstrators who had been demanding the ousting of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Boris Nemtsov, the former Deputy Prime Minister, compared him to Egypt's president, Hosni Mubarak and accused Mr Putin of allowing corruption to pervade the corridors of power in Moscow, as Jack Izzard reports.

Police releases detained in Moscow opposition leader Limonov

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20110201/162399342.html

Police released Russian opposition leader Eduard Limonov, who was detained during an unsanctioned rally at Moscow's downtown Triumfalnaya Square on Monday, a spokesman for the Moscow police said on Tuesday.

Opposition and human rights activists rally on the last day of every month with 31 days in honor of Article 31 of the Russian Constitution, which guarantees freedom of assembly.

"Limonov, detained during the unsanctioned rally at Triumfalnaya Square, was taken to a police department, where an administrative protocol was filled out on him. After that he and other detainees were allowed to go home," the spokesman said.

He added that the administrative protocol would be later forwarded to a Moscow court.

Rights activists led by Moscow Helsinki Group head Lyudmila Alexeyeva applied for a 1,500-strong rally, but the authorities allowed only 1,000 to participate.

All in all, the sanctioned rally on Triumfalnaya Square gathered 500 people, as well as another 150 journalists. Some 2,000 police and security force personnel were deployed near Triumfalnaya Square.

The protest passed calmly, but upon its completion, several dozen backers of Limonov's Other Russia party tried to hold their own unsanctioned protest near the square.

Twenty of them, including Limonov, were detained, Moscow police spokesman Viktor Biryukov said.

MOSCOW, February 1 (RIA Novosti)

In Moscow, a victory for protesters' rights

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/31/AR2011013106119.html

By Kathy Lally
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, February 1, 2011; A06

MOSCOW - Protesters gathered here at Triumphant Square on Monday night and quickly declared themselves victorious, despite their small numbers: They had won permission to demonstrate for the third time, hardly anyone was arrested and they were not as desperate as Egyptians.

Opposition leader Boris Nemtsov told about 500 demonstrators rallying in support of freedom of assembly on the square outside the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall that it took 30 years for Egyptians to lose patience with President Hosni Mubarak. Russians, he said, have had only 12 years of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

"Revolutions are not for Russia," said Nemtsov, who spent 15 days in jail after being arrested at a similar demonstration on New Year's Eve. "Our main aim is free elections. We want Putin to go away - peacefully."

The protest was led by 83-year-old Ludmilla Alexeyeva, head of the Moscow Helsinki Group, and attended by a smattering of young people along with numerous middle-aged and elderly people, some making their way painfully by cane. Police officers surrounded them - 2,000 had been deployed - and looked intimidating, many in bulletproof vests and helmets, standing shoulder to shoulder and two deep around much of the square. They had brought a fleet of buses, ready to fill with law-breakers.

"This is our only way to tell the authorities what we think," Alexeyeva said in a raspy voice, standing on the back of an open-sided-truck-cum-platform. Victory, she said, lay in being able to demonstrate legally. This was the third time the protesters had received a city permit to rally, with other demonstrations held Oct. 31 and Dec. 31 in honor of Article 31 of the constitution, which guarantees freedom of assembly. A year ago, police arrested Alexeyeva and carted her off to jail when she dared to demonstrate without a permit.

Although the city had granted permission for 1,000 demonstrators Monday, only about 500 made it to the square. One organizer said police had stopped allowing people through the metal detectors at the only two entranceways into the square before it was filled.

After the police arrested Nemtsov and others as they were leaving the Dec. 31 rally, opposition leaders said they feared authorities were trying to intimidate people into staying away from protests.

About 20 members of the extreme leftist Other Russia Party, who had earlier said its members would gather outside the permitted area, were arrested Monday, including leader Eduard Limonov, 67. He said he objected to being given permission to assemble in an assigned spot when it should be a right to gather.

Limonov, who had made a similar declaration on New Year's Eve, was arrested as he left his house and spent 15 days in jail.

Hundreds of Russians protest against Putin

Today at 04:46 | Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — About 500 people demonstrated in a central Moscow square Monday to demand the ouster of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his "rule of thieves."

The rally took place peacefully, but police detained a separate group of 20 opposition activists nearby. About 60 protesters also were detained in St. Petersburg, one of a number of other cities where demonstrations were held.

Prominent opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was arrested and jailed for 15 days following a similar demonstration a month ago, kept up his assault on Russia's longtime leader as he addressed the protesters on Moscow's Triumph Square.

He compared Putin to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarek, who is facing mass unrest after 30 years in power.

"Please, someone tell me how our leadership differs from his," Nemtsov shouted to the crowd from the back of a truck. "Russia has to get rid of Putin."

Nemtsov has accused Putin of allowing corruption to pervade the corridors of power and of building up considerable personal wealth during his 11 years in power at the expense of ordinary Russians. He also has denounced Putin's reversal of the democratic achievements of the 1990s.

Russia's beleaguered opposition holds demonstrations on the last day of every month with 31 days to call attention to the 31st Article of Russia's Constitution, which guarantees freedom of assembly.

The city authorized Monday's rally, but it also authorized the rally Dec. 31, during which 68 people were arrested, including Nemtsov. He was arrested after the rally while walking across the square to his car.

Nemtsov's arrest drew Western condemnation and mobilized his supporters, who held daily pickets outside the jail where he was being held.

Hundreds of police surrounded the square Monday, but they allowed the demonstrators to disperse after the hourlong rally ended with cries of "Down with the rule of thieves."

Police did, however, detain another opposition leader, Eduard Limonov, and his supporters as they walked away from the square. City police spokesman Gennady Bogachev said they were attempting to organize their own rally.

In the U.S., the White House said it was troubled by the detentions and reports that demonstrators were being mistreated, including accusations that some were beaten by police.

Limonov, who was arrested ahead of last month's rally shortly after leaving his home and sentenced to 15 days in jail, has refused to join other opposition leaders at the sanctioned demonstrations.

In St. Petersburg, the opposition did not have permission to protest. Police spokesman Vyacheslav Stepchenko said officers detained 60 people when they broke up the rally.

___

Associated Press writer Irina Titova in St. Petersburg contributed to this report.

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