A Dissenter's march in Russia wouldn't be a Dissenter's march if it didn't end in large-scale detentions. Saturday night's march was no different, with up to 50 protesters allegedly held. Thanks to la Russophobe, for highlighting this link to activist Oleg Kozlovsky's English weblog, in which he recounts the details of his own arrest:
In order to find a pretext to arrest participants of the action, members of Rossiya Molodaya (Young Russia), a Kremlin-aligned youth group (a part of the so-called Putinyouth), were used as provocateurs. They began lighting flares, chanting slogans and throwing leaflets (mocking the opposition) in the middle of the crowd. The police were ready: they arrested the Putinyouth and many regular participants around as well as Limonov. The provocateurs were soon released without any charge while Limonov himself may face up to 15 days imprisonment for "disobeying police orders."
This provocation was also a signal to start a crackdown on the protesters, most of whom were standing steadily and silently according to the general plan. About 70 people were arrested. Police officers simply pointed at certain activists and they were immediately dragged into police vans. Many others were arrested for just being too close to the scene. Although no resistance was offered, policemen and soldiers beat people while dragging them. According to Russian bloggers, the police even went so far as to try to arrest an American diplomat, Vice-Consul Robert Bond who was observing the rally. Photos of Mr Bond surrounded by the police and showing them his ID card have been posted in many blogs.Read the whole post here.
I was arrested while trying to tweet what I saw. Apparently, one of the officers recognized me. Along with some 20 more people in the bus I was taken to a police station where we were charged with... lighting flares, chanting slogans and throwing leaflets-the ones that Putinyouth were throwing. As the police officers were filling in the papers with these fake charges, we looked at the walls of the police station's lecture hall. Portraits of proud police officers as well as of Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev hung there next to Yagoda, Ezhov and Beriya, the three heads of Stalin's NKVD and Gulag.
Just imagine what would be the confusion if a Russian diplomat attends a protest in Washington or somewhere else in the " free world " .
In my " Kultur " , i would have declared him persona non grata on the field !
As far as i remember , an Us diplomat attended a demonstration in Paris in 82 or 83 against the " socialist " French govt of president Mitterand and in favor of private Catholic schools .
He was expelled , with reason , for " ingerence in internal affairs " .
DanielB, can you see the difference between "paricipating" in a demonstration and "observing" it? I believe, a lot of diplomats come to see major political rallies in different countries. It is their job to know what's going on in the country and to inform their bosses.
And in case of Russia, the very issue of protest demonstrations is a widely discussed topic, because our government is often accused of violating freedom of assembly. Unsurprisingly, Americans want to see it with their own eyes.