After summer lull tens of thousands turn out to protest against Putin

By LYNN BERRY and VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
Published on 17/09/2012 00:00

THE first major protest against President Vladimir Putin after a summer lull drew tens of thousands of people on Saturday, determined to show that opposition sentiment remains strong despite Kremlin efforts to muzzle dissent.

The street protests broke out after a December parliamentary election won by Mr Putin’s party through what observers said was widespread fraud, and they grew in strength ahead of Mr Putin’s effectively unopposed election in March to a third presidential term.

Huge rallies of more than 100,000 people even in bitter winter cold gave many protesters hope for democratic change. These hopes have waned, but opposition supporters appear ready to dig in for a long fight.

“We have to defend the rights that we were deprived of, the right to have elections. We were deprived of honest elections and an honest government,” opposition activist Alexander Shcherbakov said. “I’ve come to show that and to demonstrate that the people are opposed.”

Leftists, liberals and nationalists mixed with students, teachers, gay activists and others as they marched down Moscow’s tree-lined boulevards chanting “Russia without Putin!” and “We are the power here!” Many wore the white ribbons that have become the symbol of the protest movement.

About 7,000 police officers stood guard along the route of the march, and a police helicopter hovered overhead. A protest rally remained peaceful as it stretched into the evening. As the 10pm deadline neared, a couple of hundred people were still on the street and police herded them toward a subway station. One of the opposition leaders, Sergei Udaltsov, was detained along with a handful of his supporters when he tried to lead a group of about 50 on a new march.

Mr Putin has shown less tolerance for the opposition since his inauguration in May. New, repressive laws have been passed to deter people from joining protests, and opposition leaders have been subject to searches and interrogations. In August, a court handed down two-year prison sentences to three members of the punk band Pussy Riot for performing an anti-Putin song inside a Moscow’ cathedral.

Alexei Navalny, a charismatic anti-corruption crusader and a popular blogger, remains the most recognised among the protest leaders. He urged the demonstrators to show resolve and keep up the pressure on the Kremlin with more street protests.

“We must come to rallies to win freedom for ourselves and our children, to defend our human dignity,” he said to cheers of support.

The rally appeared as big as the last major protest in June, which also attracted tens of thousands. More of the demonstrators, however, came not as members of the varied political organizations that make up the protest movement, but with groups of friends and co-workers. As part of a new initiative, activists collected contact information and addresses from demonstrators to make it easier to organize civic actions on a neighbourhood level.

Although opposition protests also were held on Saturday in several other Russian cities, the largest, in St Petersburg, drew only a few thousand people. Protests elsewhere attracted only hundreds or even dozens. About 100 attended an unsanctioned rally in Nizhny Novgorod and about 20 of them were detained.