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Four activists of the Youth YABLOKO were detained by police after they enchained
themselves with handcuffs by the State Duma (the Russian parliament)
protesting against the new security service (FSB, the former
KGB) law. Artur Grokhovsky, Advisor to party Chair Sergei
Mitrokhin, was also detained.
“YABLOKO has been conducting this action protesting against
adoption of the draft law broadening the proxies of the FSB.
Today deputies of the State Duma has to examine the draft
law in the second reading. Artur Grokhovsky stood by the entrance
to the parliament building with a placard picturing Byeria
(Stalin’s main accomplice), Dzerzhinsky and Putin with an
inscription “Amendments to the FSB law – the KGB men are for
it!” with the signatures YABLOKO had collected against this
law.
While the police and OMON (riot police) were focusing their
attention on Artur Grokhovsky, four young YABLOKO activists
Kirill Gontcharov, Veronika Belozerskikh, Igor Savyolov and
Vladislav Pankov enchained themselves with handcuffs to the
State Duma fence. The activists’ T-shirts had the same pictures
as the placard and a slogan “Say “no” to KGB!”
Finally the police managed to unchain the handcuffs. The activists
insisted on making a protocol [of administrative violation]
by the State Duma, but the police detained the activists and
took them to the police station. After the young activists
were taken to the local police station, the police also forced
Artur Grokhovsky into their car.
“It is the first time that YABLOKO has held such a radical
action. We think this draft project extremely dangerous. It
turns all the Russia’s citizens into potential extremists
and allows to security services to inflict punishment on their
disposal,” stated YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin.
Protest against broadening of FSB proxies will continue today
at the action by the Ploschad Revolyutsii metro station which
has been agreed with the authorities. It is envisaged that
a strategy for further actions will be developed at the rally.
Photos by Artur Totosyan
See also:
Human
Rights
Overcoming Stalin's
Legacy
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