Protests in Russia [image heavy]
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Protests in Russia [image heavy]Further major protests against fraud at presidential and parliamentary elections are taking place in Russia. Since December 10th, there have been six similar major rallies by Moscow protesters gathering between 20 000 and 80 000 people each. Like the previous protests, this one wasn't associated with a particular ideology, including the entire political spectrum. While the previous protests had relatively little confrontation between the police and the protesters, this one turned out more heated.
The protest was supposed to consist of a march and a meeting at Bolotnaya square. In spite of the rally being sanctioned by the authorities, the police apparently refused to let the organisers of the rally to Bolotnaya square. The leaders then proceeded to sit at the police blockade. The march to the square halted, and the mob filled the surroundings, including the square. The police then attempted to disperse the protesters, which escalated to violence.
more pictures: http://www.ridus.ru/news/31571/
A couple of my own pictures from the crowd:
The confrontations were relatively brutal. 7 policemen received burns, both protesters and policemen were injured. No deaths have been confirmed so far, except for a journalist who fell off a building. The protesters removed the protective wear of the riot police and threw it into the river Moskva.
Some videos of the confrontations:
It is unclear what the number of the protesters was. The journalists tend to report the figure of 20 000 to 40 000 for the march, with more people proceeding directly to the square. The police and the protesters report the unlikely figures of 8 000 and above 100 000. The police is becoming increasingly unreliable on the matter, exaggerating government rallies and lowering the figures for protesters.
A good illustration to police dishonesty on the matter is the unsanctioned rally by Putin's new party United National Front, which might take the place of United Russia. It appears to have been attended mostly by employees of the mail service. The police reported 30 000 attendees for it, while the journalists estimated it at 1000-3000 people.
more pictures: http://www.ridus.ru/news/31574/
On May 7th Vladimir Putin will be inaugurated as the president of Russia, having apparently received 63.6% votes, ranging from 99.76% in Chechnya to 46.95% in Moscow (over 80% in psychiatric wards, nursery homes, detention centres). The fraud is widely alleged to have been even greater at parliamentary elections. An unsanctioned rally by the opposition is being organised in social networks.Last edited by Ahumsk; 07-05-2012 at 15:12. -
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Re: Protests in Russia [image heavy]"Thugs take to the streets and are beaten back by glorious police force!"(Original post by gagaslilmonsteruk)
I wonder what Russia Today are saying about this ...
