YABLOKO's activist with a
President-puppet detained in the Red Square
Press Release
July 26, 2010
Today on July 26, a one-person picketing under the slogan “Medvedev,
do not be a FSB puppet!” was conducted at the Red Square.
YABLOKO’s Artur Grokhovsky was holding a placard picturing
the “KGB men” - Felix Dzerzhinsky, Lavrenty Beria and Vladimir
Putin – and a photograph of President Dmitry Medvedev tied
to their fingers.
YABLOKO called the President not to sign the law broadening
of the proxies of secret services. The police detained the
activist who was picketing at the Red Square, broke the placard
picturing the “KGB men” and their “puppet” President Medvedev.
Also, allegedly a FSB (Federal Security Service) officer tried
to wipe out all the records from the journalists’ cameras
and recorders and also tried to break a camera.
“Today we have one more opportunity to break the adoption
of the draft law on broadening of proxies of FSB. We are calling
the President not to become a puppet in the hands of secret
services and not to sign this law,” said YABLOKO’s leader
Sergei Mitrokhin.
Grokhovsky managed to display the placard at the Red Square
about ten minutes. First the policemen who approached Grokhovsky
agreed that one-person picketing is not prohibited by law
and do not require getting any prior permits or notifications.
However, somewhat later the policemen and OMON officers (the
riot police) took the activist to the local police station
by force. Now Grokhovsky is in the local police station. Officers
from the Federal Security Service interrogated him and showed
much interest in his family and home. Grokhovsky assesses
this as “demonstration of force” and “psychological pressure”.
He is going to appeal against such actions to the Public Prosecutor.
Also an unidentified robust young man came up to the journalists
during picketing. Without giving his name and credentials
he snatched a recorder out of the hands of the Ekho Moskvi
Radio correspondent and wiped out the recording. He also tried
to break a video camera of YABLOKO’s Press Secretary Igor
Yakovlyev. The police did not interfere into his actions.
Failing to break the camera the young man followed Yakovlyev
and did not let to video record the developments. When Yakovlev
tried to draw the journalists’ attention to this, the young
man came closely and whispered in that he would not advise
to do so.
YABLOKO has been holding public campaign against adoption
of amendments to the FSB law. YABLOKO’s activists conducted
actions and picketing by the State Duma (the lower chamber
of the Russian parliament) when the draft law was examined
by the State Duma in three readings, and the Federation Council
(the upper chamber of the parliament), they also collected
signatures and held meetings with the Muscovites.
A flash-game "Medvedev, do not be a puppet!" has
been just launched at YABLOKO’s web-site. When pointing with
a cursor at the hands and heads of the “KGB men”, they will
start pulling at the strings attached to Dmitry Medvedev making
him dance under their tunes. Thus, YABLOKO would like to demonstrate
to the President what his destiny can be, if he yields to
the secret services and signs the law.
