| On May 1 the politically active part of our citizens will
conduct meetings. For the first time in the contemporary Russian history
(as recently no one dared challenge the prerogative of the left-wing and
trade unions here), representatives from democratic and liberal parties
have been preparing actively for the action on the First of May.
The public in the West is also following closely the developments of
the forthcoming action: this is attributable to the initial refusal of
the Moscow authorities to initiate this democratic march, the YABLOKO
party, to allow this march scheduled along Myasnitskaya street to the
Solovetsky Stone on May 1.
As the refusal occurred a few days after the State Duma voted for the
adoption in the first reading of the draft law limiting the rights of
the citizens and parties to assembly, many of the observers drew the following
conclusion: in other words, this is the end of election campaigns in Russia
and this puts an end to strikes and demonstrations in Russia now. However,
President Putin intervened and spoke against any toughening of the rules
for public actions, describing this idea as "unhealthy."
"Who needs this in our present conditions - to limit the rights
of citizens to assembly. There should be no unhealthy restrictions here,"
said Putin. Once again everyone ended up deep in thought:
Meanwhile, another application on conducting a democratic march and
signed by the leader of the Russian Democratic Party YABLOKO Grigory
Yavlinsky, Chairperson of the Moscow Helsinki Group Ludmila Alexeeva
and Chairperson of the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia Valentina
Melnikova was submitted to the Moscow Mayor's Office on April 12, 2004.
The Union of Right-Wing Forces sent an official letter to the Mayor
of Moscow, saying that the party would participate in the march on May
1.
Coordinator of the democratic march Alexei Navalny stated: "in
the new application we amended even those absolutely formal and insignificant
faults that served as a pretext for the refusal of the Mayor's Office. This time the application is legally
impeccable. We are waiting for the reaction of the Moscow authorities,
however, we confirm that the action will take place in any case on the
basis of provisions of the Constitution that, fortunately, have not yet
been abolished," said.
The democratic march "Civil Society Against a Police State"
is expected to be the most representational for the past decade. Leader
of the YABLOKO party Grigory Yavlinsky and all heads of the party, well-known
representatives of the Union of Right-Wing Forces - Boris Nemtsov, Irina
Khakamada, Boris Nadezhdin, the leader of the Democratic Union Valeria Novodvorskaya, independent deputy of the State Duma Vladimir Ryzhkov
and heads of the Committee -2008 plan to take part in the meeting.
See also:
Freedom
of Assembly
MosNews. April 12, 2004. Putin Criticizes
Draft Law Limiting Freedom of Assembly
Press Release. April 9, 2004.
The Moscow Mayor's Office refused the application from Russian Democratic
Party YABLOKO and a number of public organisations to hold a meeting on
May 1, 2004
Russkiy Kurier, April 10, 2004.
Moscow Mayor's Office turns down YABLOKO's application to organize a demonstration.
RIA "OREANDA". April 9, 2004.
YABLOKO Forbidden from Holding Meeting in Moscow
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