On April 14, hundreds of police and OMON special forces detained over 150 anti-Kremlin activists in a bid to stop an unauthorized March of Dissent rally in Moscow before it began, RFE/RL's Russian Service reported. Among those briefly detained was Garri Kasparov, the former world chess champion and a leader of the heterogeneous opposition umbrella group Other Russia. That movement seeks to use peaceful protests to persuade the authorities to ensure that the 2007 parliamentary and 2008 presidential elections are free and fair. The authorities' use of violence and their detention of Kasparov attracted widespread negative international media coverage. Among Russian domestic television broadcasters, only the independent REN-TV provided any notable footage of the crackdown. According to RFE/RL's Russian Service, several prominent opposition leaders were either detained or prevented from reaching the rally. It is not clear how many remain in detention or were injured during the protests in Moscow on April 14 and St. Petersburg on April 15. Elsewhere in Moscow on April 14, about 15,000 activists of the pro-Kremlin youth group Nashi held a March of Agreement in support of President Vladimir Putin. On April 15, riot police in St. Petersburg used violence against peaceful protesters, including children and elderly bystanders, international media reported. About 1,000 people took part in the march, of whom about 100 were detained. Police beat and temporarily detained a German television reporter, who was released only after the German Embassy intervened. Police also detained National Bolshevik Party leader Eduard Limonov, who called on Putin to resign. // Copyright (c) 2005. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. RFE/RL


Publication date: 17 April 2007   

Source:

Archive