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| Opposition activists flock to central Moscow to commemorate slain politician Nemtsov and condemn constitution amendments | Opposition activists flock to central Moscow to commemorate slain politician Nemtsov and condemn constitution amendments |
| (31 minutes later) | |
| Moscow sees its first mass opposition gathering of the year on Saturday, as a rally is held in the Russian capital to commemorate politician Boris Nemtsov, who was killed five years ago. | Moscow sees its first mass opposition gathering of the year on Saturday, as a rally is held in the Russian capital to commemorate politician Boris Nemtsov, who was killed five years ago. |
| The death of Nemtsov, a veteran critic of the Russian government, is among the unifying points for various opposition groups in the country who are normally at odds with one another. | The death of Nemtsov, a veteran critic of the Russian government, is among the unifying points for various opposition groups in the country who are normally at odds with one another. |
| Organizers of the march, who have described themselves as “pretty much the entire democratic spectrum” of the opposition, expected that as many as 30,000 people would participate, according to the notice they sent to the mayor’s office. It is the first major opposition event since September last year, and it hopes to revitalize the anti-government energy which drove several mass protests in Russia in 2019. | Organizers of the march, who have described themselves as “pretty much the entire democratic spectrum” of the opposition, expected that as many as 30,000 people would participate, according to the notice they sent to the mayor’s office. It is the first major opposition event since September last year, and it hopes to revitalize the anti-government energy which drove several mass protests in Russia in 2019. |
| The protesters are carrying both Russian national flags and ones representing political parties, along with a big banner at the front of the crowd which reads ‘The mastermind of the murder must be in jail’. They are chanting anti-government slogans as they advance through the streets, which have been closed to traffic for the occasion. | |
| As well as demanding further investigation into the murder of Nemtsov, the protesters are objecting to the planned amendments to the Russian constitution. | |
| The amendments include making the two-term limit for presidential office a lifetime one – as opposed to the current rule, which merely restricts consecutive terms – along with giving the parliament additional powers to appoint the prime minister and some of his cabinet members and make other changes to the way the country is governed. | |
| The people behind the demonstration see them as an attempt “to usurp” power, and say Nemtsov would have been against them, if he were alive. | |
| This assessment unsurprisingly made its way into the headlines of some Western media outlets. AFP’s report about the protests uncritically labels the amendments “Putin’s ‘leader-for-life’ reforms” from the start and states they will be “the first changes to the basic law since 1993”. The Russian constitution was amended in 2008 to extend the terms of the president and the parliament, in 2014 to change the structure of the Russian judiciary, and on numerous occasions to reflect changes in the Russian administrative division. | |
| Before the demonstration the opposition activists said they were surprised that the city government agreed to their suggestion for the march with no objections. Russian law says the authorities may reject an application for a mass event, but they must offer an alternative. Opposition groups claim the government abuses its authority and uses red tape to disrupt their plans. | |
| Similar smaller-scale protest events are being held in several other Russian cities, including St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Yaroslavl, Oryol and Voronezh. | |
| Nemtsov, who served as a governor and a cabinet member in the 1990s, was a prominent opposition leader in Russia. He was assassinated in central Moscow on the night of February 27, 2015. In 2017, five people were sentenced to lengthy jail terms for carrying out the killing, but the mastermind behind the hit was not identified by investigators. The hit was reportedly ordered over anti-Islam statements made by Nemtsov in the wake of the jihadist massacre at French satirical outlet Charlie Hebdo in January 2015. | Nemtsov, who served as a governor and a cabinet member in the 1990s, was a prominent opposition leader in Russia. He was assassinated in central Moscow on the night of February 27, 2015. In 2017, five people were sentenced to lengthy jail terms for carrying out the killing, but the mastermind behind the hit was not identified by investigators. The hit was reportedly ordered over anti-Islam statements made by Nemtsov in the wake of the jihadist massacre at French satirical outlet Charlie Hebdo in January 2015. |
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