13.9.2005 14:07 MSK
Did the authorities drown out protests
RUSSIA, Moscow. On 12 September a meeting took place on Pushkin Square in Moscow to show solidarity with Mikhail Khodorkovski and Platon Lebedev. The meeting took place in the build up to the appeal against the sentence given by the Meshchansk court against Lebedev and Khodorkovski (nine years each in prison) which will be heard on 14 September.

The meeting was designed to draw the attention of the authorities and the public to the issue of constitutional rights and freedoms in Russia, including the right to a fair and impartial trial; to protest against the use of law enforcement agencies and legal bodies for political aims, and also against the repression of politicians by the authorities and the infringement of their civil rights and freedoms; and to demand the release of the political prisoners Mikhail Khodorkovski and Platon Lebedev.

Above the crowd at the meeting could be seen the flags of the political parties "The Union of Right Forces" and “Our Choice” and the “Defence” and “We” movements.

Participants at the protest held slogans: “Prison is better than being weighed down by scum” , “Freedom for Russia’s political prisoners”, “Enough of lying to the people!”, “Dirty government – dirty decision”, “Times have been worse but not as corrupt”. They chanted: “Free the political prisoners!”, “Unite against the politics of repression!”, “We are together!”, “We will win!”.

At the same time in Novopushkin Square young people wearing identical T-shirts with the logo “MBKh – in gaol!”. The same logo was also on their identical banners. They sang chants loudly, the kind used by football supporters. Because of this the speeches of the protesters were difficult to hear. Participants of the meeting in support of Khodorkovsk and Lebedev told PRIMA-News correspondent that these young people looked like sportsmen. There were about 40 of them and behind them were older people.

The deputy prefect of the Central District of Moscow, Sergei Vasyukov, told PRIMA-News correspondent that on 6 September the youth branch of “Edinstvo” applied to hold a meeting on Novopushkin Square at the same time as the human rights activists applied for theirs and there was not reason to refuse this request.

A lawyer for the Union of Right Forces, Vadim Prokhorov, told PRIMA-News that before the beginning of the meeting to show solidarity with Khodorkovski and Lebedev he had tried by mistake to go through the area reserved for the youth branch of “Edinstvo” but he was denied access. Prokhorov believes that the prefecture broke the law by allowing opposing protests to be held in the same place.

Father Gleb Yakunin and an activist from the movement “For Human Rights” Evgeni Ikhlov who spoke in support of Khodorkovski and Lebedev mentioned soviet times, comparing the actions of the authorities, who in their opinion organised the counter-meeting with the silencing of foreign radio stations broadcasting in the languages of the USSR.

During the protest two people approached supporters of Khodorkovski and started to shout: “Khodorkovski – on the chamber pot!”, however they were almost immediately dragged away to the side by participants of the meeting, who informed PRIMA-News that these were activists from the Evraziisk Union.

The protest, in which around 200 people participated, was organised by the civil movement “We are with Khodorkovski!” and the all-Russian movement “For Human Rights”. Various political and social organisations supported the protest including "The Union of Right Forces" and “Our Choice”.

The movement “For Human Rights” issued a statement condemning the organisers of the political provocation in the centre of the capital. The statement read: “We are outraged that state bodies and “social groups” which support the policies of the Kremlin deliberately breach the peace, stir up a confrontational atmosphere and harbour real storm troopers. We will take the necessary legal steps with regard to the state body which has infringed our rights and freedoms and created a threat to the safety of the public”.

Translated by Alister Drury
News Agency PRIMA-News [2005-09-12-Rus-18]
http://www.prima-news.ru/eng/news/news/2005/9/13/33218.html