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Ekho Moskvi radio station, September 16, 2004

Protesters' turnout matched by journalists at Moscow anti-Putin rally

Anchor: The YABLOKO party is rallying against Vladimir Putin's electoral initiatives. Protesters have gathered near the entrance of the Prosecutor-General's Office in Moscow. Yevgeniya Ten reports from the scene by phone.

Correspondent: The rally is already over. Over 30 protesters have taken part in it. They include not only the YABLOKO party, but also representatives of other movements who decided to join in - the Democratic Union, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the Union of Right-Wing Forces and some human rights activists. The number of journalists was about the same as the number of protesters. Some passers-by also joined the meeting.

The rally drew the Prosecutor-General's Office's attention to the fact that the President has proposed to replace the election of regional heads with nominations, which means he proposes to violate the constitution.

Valeriya Novodvorskaya (leader fo the Democratic Union) , who took part in the rally, said that should Putin's proposals be implemented, Russia will cease to be a federation and become a unitary state.

Deputy Chairman of YABLOKO Sergei Mitrokhin, who headed the Yabloko representation at the rally, said this is a head-on power takeover and Russian citizens are being deprived of their right to vote. The Federation Council and Prosecutor-General's Office should prevent this, he said.

Protesters held up placards saying Putin is a usurper with the president's portrait with Hitler's haircut and moustache drawn on. At the end of the rally, protesters threw dozens of paper planes with excerpts from the constitution printed on them into the Prosecutor-General's Office's yard. They glued leaflets with similar content to the outer side of the railings. Later, when the crowd had dispersed, policemen came out here, picked up several leaflets and took them back into the building.

Anchor: Did everything go peacefully? No conflicts with the police?

Correspondent: There weren't any conflicts with the police primarily because the rally had been sanctioned. Although the authorities sanctioned the rally under another subject. The change of subject by the protesters was unauthorized.

Anchor: I will add that the Union of Right-Wing Forces did not join the rally. It said it will hold its own rally against the same initiatives on a different day.

Based on the BBC monitoring

 

Ekho Moskvi radio station, September 16, 2004

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