| While countries across Europe celebrate the expansion
of the European Union on Saturday, tens of thousands of Communists, liberals,
environmentalists and human rights activists will take to Moscow's streets
for rallies long associated with the May 1 holiday.
But one little-known political movement has been left out in the cold
after authorities rejected its request to stage a march and rally in support
of hemp.
The mood at the Moscow rallies promises to be far less festive than
that in the cities of the 10 incoming EU members — which are vying
for who will come up with the fanciest celebration.
Liberals, who for the first time since the Soviet collapse have found
themselves without a faction in the State Duma, will march through downtown
Moscow to protest "the bureaucracy's huge offensive on the rights
and freedoms of Russian citizens," the march's main organizer, the
Yabloko party, said in a statement.
Yabloko will be joined by members and supporters of the Union of Right
Forces party, the Committee 2008: Free Choice movement, Greenpeace, and
the human rights organizations Moscow Helsinki Group, Soldiers' Mothers
and others, Yabloko spokeswoman Yevgenia
Dillendorf said.
"It was different when we were in the Duma, but now what else can
we do to make our voices heard?" Dillendorf said.
Last May, Yabloko led a rally demanding the resignation of then-Prime
Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and his Cabinet.
Protesters will meet at 11:30 a.m. near the Chistiye Prudy metro and
at noon march down Myasnitskaya Ulitsa to Lubyanskaya Ploshchad, where
the former KGB headquarters are located. A rally will then be held there
near the Solovki memorial.
Communist Party leaders and their faithful will march as usual through
central Moscow and rally near the Karl Marx statue on Teatralnaya Ploshchad
at noon Saturday. The march will start near the Lenin statue on Kaluzhskaya
Ploshchad, where the Communists plan to gather at 9:30 a.m., according
to a statement on the Communist Party's web site.
But Moscow's central district administration banned the Russian Radicals
movement from staging a hemp march to raise awareness about a plant whose
fibers are used to make rope, clothing and food, but is notorious for
the marijuana made from its leaves, Interfax reported.
Organizers had planned to attract a crowd of some 1,000 on the Arbat
and march to Pushkin Square for a rally.
But the May holiday will be more than rallies. A relay race, a bicycle
race and outdoor concerts are among the entertainment planned by City
Hall for Moscow residents who do not head out of town for their dachas.
The relay race will be held along the Garden Ring on Sunday at 11 a.m.,
while the bicycle race will take place at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Most of the city's outdoor venues, including Gorky Park, the All-Russia
Exhibition Center, the Hermitage Garden and the Kolomenskoye Park, will
host pop concerts, circus performances and other attractions, Interfax
reported.
May 1, which was called the Day of Workers' Solidarity under Soviet
rule, was once celebrated with mass processions through Red Square as
thousands marched cheerfully waving flags and holding portraits of Soviet
leaders. President Boris Yeltsin renamed the holiday the Day of Labor
and Spring in 1996.
It is followed by the May 9 Victory Day holiday, which this year commemorates
the 59th anniversary of the Soviet army's defeat of Nazi Germany.
Many main streets will be closed to traffic during the May 1 activities.
Traffic will be disrupted in most of the city center from 7:30 a.m. until
the end of the rallies Saturday, and from 11 a.m. until the end of the
relay race Sunday. The Garden Ring will be closed Wednesday from 5:30
p.m. until the end of the bike race.
City weather forecasters warned, however, that bad weather might put
a damper on Saturday's events. Rain is expected.
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