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Russia Protest Rally Draws Thousands on Anniversary Thousands Rally Against the Prosecution of Russian Protest Leaders
(about 2 hours later)
MOSCOW – Thousands of people turned up on Monday at a protest in Moscow intended to draw attention to what participants called the return of political prosecutions in the Russian court system. MOSCOW — Thousands of people turned out Monday for a protest here that was intended to draw attention to what organizers said was the return of political prosecutions in the Russian courts.
The rally, one of the larger protests here in recent months, was timed to commemorate the anniversary of a riot on Bolotnaya Square on May 6, 2012, that was followed by a mass arrest and criminal prosecutions of protesters under contentious circumstances. The prosecutions are known as collectively as the Bolotnaya Case. The rally, one of the largest protests in recent months, was timed to coincide with the anniversary of a riot in Bolotnaya Square last year that was followed by mass arrests and prosecutions under contentious circumstances. The prosecutions are known collectively as the Bolotnaya Case.
That event a year ago signaled the end of the winter’s large, peaceful protests. It also precipitated a series of laws enacted under President Vladimir V. Putin constricting rights to assemble and increasing fines for unsanctioned gatherings. That demonstration signaled the end of the winter’s large, peaceful protests. It also precipitated a series of laws enacted under President Vladimir V. Putin that constricted the rights to assemble and increased fines for unsanctioned gatherings.
Organizers said nearly 30,000 people attended, close to their expectations under a permit they had received. Interfax, a Russian news agency, said the turnout was more like 8,000. Organizers said nearly 30,000 people attended the rally on Monday, close to their expectations and the limit allowed under the permit for the gathering. Interfax, a Russian news agency, said turnout was closer to 8,000.
Regardless, the rally showed that organizers could still draw thousands to a park in the center of Moscow to protest politically hewed arrests and prosecutions. Regardless, the rally showed that organizers could still draw thousands to a park in the center of Moscow to protest politically oriented arrests and prosecutions.
Police arrested five people for wearing masks, which is illegal, and one person for lighting a flare. But overall the event was peaceful. Police arrested five people for wearing masks, which is illegal, and one person for lighting a flare. But over all, the event was peaceful.
“In December 2011 I marched because I personally felt that I was robbed at the election,” Anton Orekh, a commentator on the Echo of Moscow radio station, wrote in an essay on the rationale for continued protest, although President Putin is firmly ensconced in the Kremlin. “It’s understood that something powerful and something frightening to some has come out on the street,” Aleksei A. Navalny, a prominent opposition leader who is on trail on an old — and some say questionable — embezzlement charge, told the crowd. “I am part of that frightening thing. It is enormous. It is the people.”
“I felt that a decent person couldn’t stay home in this humiliating situation,” Mr. Orekh wrote. “They spit on your face, and you wipe it off and stay silent, sitting on the couch. Now, the idea is the government is telling us, sit and stop chirping. The people detained on the Bolotnaya Case are either wholly innocent, or they are guilty of something far less serious than they are accused.” Mr. Navalny, who faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, said he would not be intimidated. “I will go on speaking the truth” to create a better Russia, he told the crowd. “I don’t have another country or another family or another people except you.”
Organizers decided to go ahead with their action on Monday despite an accident that had killed a volunteer worker helping to erect the speaking stage, forcing them to improvise by shifting the podium to a flatbed truck. Before the protest got under way on Monday, a volunteer was killed in an accident while helping erect the stage, forcing the organizers to improvise by shifting the podium to a flatbed truck.
Gennady Gudkov, a former member of Parliament and opposition leader, said at the rally that the turnout showed Russians these days will not succumb to fear. “Arrests and prosecutions are their means of scaring people. This is their way of saying ‘if you come out, the same will happen to you, too.'” Gennady Gudkov, an opposition leader and former member of Parliament, said at the rally that the turnout showed that Russians will not succumb to fear. “Arrests and prosecutions are their means of scaring people,” he said. “This is their way of saying, ‘If you come out, the same will happen to you, too.’ ”
Some participants were motivated by the prosecution under way against Aleksei A. Navalny, an opposition leader on trial on an old and questionable embezzlement accusation that was reinstated when he became a prominent leader of street protests last year. Some demonstrators on Monday wore buttons that read “The Case Against Navalny Is the Case Against Me!”
Protesters wore buttons that read “The Case Against Navalny is the Case Against Me!”
Maria Kedrina, a hotel employee, said she came because “any one of us could be a political prisoner.”Maria Kedrina, a hotel employee, said she came because “any one of us could be a political prisoner.”
Igor M. Bunin, the director of the Center for Political Technologies in Moscow, said protest leaders were hoping to send a message that would give the Kremlin pause before sentencing Mr. Navalny to prison. Igor M. Bunin, the director of the Center for Political Technologies in Moscow, said protest organizers were hoping to send a message that would give the Kremlin pause before sentencing Mr. Navalny to prison.
The Bolotnaya Case was a confusing, galvanizing incident for the Russian opposition. A year ago, police were herding a crowd of tens of thousands of people from a broad street, Bolshaya Yakimanka, into a bottleneck formed by rows of riot policemen in a funnel toward an inadequate number of metal detectors at the entrance to the Bolotnaya square. The Bolotnaya case has galvanized the Russian opposition. It began with the protest a year ago as the police herded tens of thousands of people from Bolshaya Yakimanka, a broad street, into a rows of riot police officers who formed a human funnel toward an entrance to Bolotnaya Square where there were not enough metal detectors.
As the crowd compressed in this space, fights broke out. People tore helmets off the police and threw them into a canal. Several police officers were hospitalized. When the police struck with batons and made arrests, a crush pushed marchers back toward a narrow bridge and for a time it seemed masses of people might be pushed into the water. Fights broke out, and people tore the helmets off some police officers and threw them into a canal. Several officers were hospitalized. When the police began striking protesters with batons and making arrests, marchers caught in the crush of people were pushed toward a narrow bridge, and it seemed that some might be pushed into the water.
The scene was politically serendipitous for President Putin by justifying the subsequent arrests and prosecution of opposition leaders, political analysts say. The violence became politically advantageous President Putin by justifying the subsequent arrests and prosecution, political analysts say.
The police detained about 400 people on that day and arrests followed in three waves over the next year. The Bolotnaya Case continues today. Authorities have prosecuted 28 people for assaulting policemen, taking part in and organizing a mass disturbance. The police detained about 400 people that day, and arrests followed in three waves over the next year. The Bolotnaya case is continuing, and the authorities have prosecuted 28 people for assaulting policemen and taking part in and organizing a mass disturbance.
More ominously for the protest movement, soon after the May 6 events, the Russian television channel NTV broadcast a documentary asserting that more than an unruly crowd was to blame. Members of the opposition had organized the violence, the documentary asserted, and the police soon took up this theme. In a more ominous development for the protest movement, the Russian television channel NTV broadcast a documentary not long after the protest asserting that more than an unruly crowd was to blame for the violence. Members of the opposition had organized the violence, the documentary asserted, and the police soon took up the same theme.
Authorities say three protest leaders – Sergei Udaltsov, Konstantin Lebedev and Leonid Razvozhayev – took money from a Georgian politician to provoke the street fight. These three became the best known of the Bolotnaya Case prisoners that were the cause of Monday’s rally. The authorities say three protest leaders — Sergei Udaltsov, Konstantin Lebedev and Leonid Razvozzhayev — took money from a Georgian politician to provoke the street fight. The trio became the best known of the Bolotnaya case prisoners who were the inspiration of the rally on Monday.
Mr. Udaltsov denied the charges and is under house arrest in Moscow. Mr. Razvozhayev, who had fled to Ukraine, said he was kidnapped on a street in Kiev and then held captive by unknown men in conditions tantamount to torture until he signed a confession, which he later recanted. He faces 10 years in prison. Mr. Lebedev confessed and was sentenced to a term of two years and six months. Mr. Udaltsov denied the charges and is under house arrest in Moscow. Mr. Razvozzhayev, who had fled to Ukraine, said he was kidnapped on a street in Kiev and then held captive by unknown men in conditions tantamount to torture until he signed a confession, which he recanted. He faces 10 years in prison. Mr. Lebedev confessed and was sentenced to two years and six months in jail.