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Thousands Rally In Russia For 'Bolotnaya' Prisoners

May 06, 2013
by RFE/RL's Russian Service, Tom Balmforth

MOSCOW -- Thousands of people attended an opposition rally in Moscow's Bolotnaya Square.

The Bolotnaya rally came on the first anniversary of a mass antigovernment protest that ended in riots and the arrests of hundreds of demonstrators protesting Vladimir Putin's return to the presidency.

The rally, which was opened by opposition figure and former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov, called for the release of over two dozen protesters detained since last year.

A placard on the main stage at the event read "Freedom For The Prisoners Of May 6," a phrase the crowd also chanted along with "Russia will be free" and 'Putin's a thief!'

Opposition figure and former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov was the first to address the crowd.

'Bolotnaya prisoners -- there are 27 of them. This case is fabricated. Today, we must remember each and every one of them,' Nemtsov said. 'Today, we must fight for freedom for political prisoners, and the Bolotnaya prisoners, and all other political prisoners to end this police despotism, to put an end to political persecution. We are not to be intimidated!'

One of the participants, Natalia Kolnakova, recalled the scene at last year's protest on Bolotnaya.

'We were here exactly one year ago and we saw all this horror. We saw how hooded thugs were let into the crowd through the chain of the riot police forces surrounding us,' she said. 'Those thugs were trickling into the crowd in front of our very eyes. We were stunned to see it happening.'

Opposition activist and former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov also addressed the rally, blaming authorities for creating the situation that led to last year's clashes between protesters and police.

'Our truth is this: The last election to the State Duma was illegitimate, and this Duma is illegitimate, and the current president is illegitimate as well,' he said. 'This is exactly the reason behind the provocation that the government arranged [during last year's Bolotnaya rally]. Today, we say it loud and clear: This was a preplanned provocation.'

Anticorruption blogger Aleksei Navalny, who has emerged as an opposition leader, called on the opposition to show courage and unity.

Navalny has been on trial in the central Russian city of Kirov on charges he helped steal about $510,000 worth of timber, charges he says are politically motivated and stem from his attempts to cast light on government misdeeds.

Earlier on May 6, a rally organizer was killed in an accident.

Moscow police said 25-year-old Maksim Melkov died when a massive loudspeaker fell on him during preparations for the rally.

Nemtsov opened the rally by calling for the crowd to observe a minute of silence for Melkov.

Russia's Investigative Committee had said no activities could be held at the site until a probe into the incident was completed. But Moscow mayoral officials allowed the rally to go ahead as planned.

Moscow City Hall granted the opposition's Coordinating Council permission to hold a demonstration with up to 30,000 people on the square. Authorities have said the rally must end at 9:30 p.m.

The opposition said "tens of thousands" had turned out in Moscow for the rally, while Moscow police put the figure at some 8,000.

There was a heavy police presence in the area of the rally. Helicopters could be heard flying overhead as speakers addressed the crowd.

Similar rallies were being held in St. Petersburg, where several hundred people reportedly gathered, and in Tomsk where heavy rain kept the crowd figures in the dozens.

With reporting by ITAR-TASS, AP, and Interfax

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-protest/24977581.html

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Thousands Rally In Russia For 'Bolotnaya' Prisoners