Discordant Marches season is closed

On 9-11 June, the end of the autumn-spring season of Discordant Marches was marked by public rallies in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Murmansk and Ekaterinburg. The marches proved to be the calmest in their short history although the authorities imposed certain restrictions in respect to the number of participants . (12-JUN-07)

Written by HRH Moscow/ Inna Komar
Sources: http://www.hro.org and http://www.vremya.ru

Central March in Saint Petersburg
The Discordant March in Saint Petersburg (9 June) coincided with the Economic Forum held in the Russian Federation and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Summit. Under the pressure of international community and human rights activists, the authorities officially permitted holding of the March under certain conditions. A number of participants was restricted to 500 (instead of 3 000 as it was reported) and the route of the rallies was limited only to pavements.

The marchers demanded freedom of speech, Putin`s resignation and free elections to the State Duma. The March gathered approximately 2 000 participants. Everything went off quietly and peacefully. There were no clashes with the police. A special entrance was organized for the journalists and they were given special badges with the “PRESS”inscription. The authorities used the same scheme as they did in Samara, where a week before, the authorities began to frighten and arrest the demonstrators; and their leaders Garry Kasparov and Eduard Lemonov weren’t allowed to depart from Moscow.

Discordant March in Moscow  
Right after Saint Petersburg the Discordant March was conducted in Moscow (11 June). It was the third one during the year. It took place in the very centre of Moscow, on Pushkinskaya Square. Police behaved more composedly than on the previous two Marches . Around 2 000 marchers participated in the event. “Another Russia” movement´s leader, Garry Kasparov, called the rally the “triumph over the authority” and assured his supporters that “in the end, there will become more of us, and we’ll defeat, because the whole country is staked!” There was also submitted a proposition “to nominate a common candidate for presidential elections”.

Who is discordant?
“Discordant Marches” is a quite new event in social and political life in the Russian Federation, standing up for Russian citizens` civil liberties and human rights. The organizers of the Marches are: movement “Another Russia”, some political parties and human rights organizations. Their slogans are: “Russia without Putin!”, “We`re for upright election!”, “We need Another Russia!” MASS-Media in the Russian Federation prefers either not to mention the acts of protest in their reports or to show them from a negative point of view. As a result most of Russians are indifferent to the Marches and opposition. Authorities itself awakened interest to the demonstrators by their rough and unskilful actions. Human rights activists even made an open appeal to the Russian President Vladimir Putin and European Union`s  leaders claiming the freedom of assembly. But they weren`t heard.