From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng (Original Message) Sent: 6/25/2005 5:14 AM
24.6.2005 15:42 MSK
Demonstration against police arbitrariness
RUSSIA, Moscow. On June 23rd, in Moscow’s October Square, near the Lenin monument, and opposite the Ministry of Internal Affairs Building, a demonstration took place against the arbitrary actions of police in Russia. The organizers of the demonstration were the Human Rights Movement, the We Movement, the Pacifist Committee, and the White Movement.
The Executive Director of the Human Rights Movement, Leo Ponomarev, Human Rights Movement analyst Yevgeny Ikhlov, and leader of Civil Liberties Committee, Andrey Babushkin, all spoke about the massive fundamental police violations of citizens’ rights in Bashkirya, the Tver region, the Stavropol territory and other places, reinforced by internal MVD orders about "actions in extraordinary situations".
Demonstrators held posters reading: " No to police arbitrariness", "Events in Blagoveshchenk – a rehearsal for all of Russia", "Divayeva must be tried!", “Nurgaliyeva must resign!"," Paramilitary police in masks and without identification - burglars ". One of the demonstrators showed journalists a photograph of a relative who had suffered from police arbitrariness.
After the short demonstration, in which about 30 people participated, a quiet costume drama was carried out, symbolizing the burial of Constitutional rights and freedoms in Russia. Participants wore mourning bands that read "Constitutional rights". They bore the Russian Constitution on a velvety pillow. “Paramilitary police” accompanied the procession in masks and with the tablets reading "Defender of the vertical".
The police contained the demonstration and would not allow demonstrators to leave the designated area of the Square, but according to portable radio transmissions, they threatened to detain Ponomarev if he tried to cross the ministry blockade.
Representatives of the MVD told journalists that secret orders actually did exist for “extraordinary situations”, but they were to be followed only in case of the introduction of a state of emergency.
Translated by OM Kenney
PRIMA-News Agency [2005-06-23-Rus-24]
http://www.prima-news.ru/eng/news/news/2005/6/24/32739.html
