200 detained in new anti-Putin demo in Russia
SAINT PETERSBURG (AFP) — Russian riot police detained another key opposition figure among 200 demonstrators in Saint Petersburg Sunday, a day after a court jailed opposition leader Garry Kasparov for a similar protest against President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
The disturbances, exactly a week ahead of December 2 parliamentary elections, came 24 hours after police dispersed a march of around 2,000 people in the Russian capital and arrested Kasparov.
A court late Saturday sentenced the former world chess champion to five days in jail and his lawyer told AFP Sunday he was being held at Moscow police headquarters.
In Saint Petersburg, anti-riot troops swarmed through the historic centre to prevent a small group of protestors from marching on the vast Winter Palace, home of the tsars until the Bolshevik Revolution.
An AFP correspondent witnessed about 200 detentions in several different locations. Most were released after several hours.
The detainees included Boris Nemtsov, who will represent the opposition SPS party in scheduled presidential elections in March. He told AFP he had been released two hours later.
Echo of Moscow radio reported that SPS leader Nikita Belykh was also detained.
Police could be seen clubbing seven activists from the radical leftist youth group the National Bolsheviks before forcing them into a van, along with others gathering for the unauthorised demonstration.
Other political figures held included Maxim Reznik, local head of the opposition party Yabloko, and SPS members running in the December 2 parliamentary election.
Kasparov's The Other Russia coalition accuses the Kremlin of corruption, crushing dissent, and rigging December's polls to ensure victory for Putin's United Russia party.
The head of Europe's main human rights watchdog expressed alarm over the detentions.
"I am very concerned about the arrests of Garry Kasparov, Boris Nemtsov and a number of their supporters in Moscow and Saint Petersburg over the weekend," the Council of Europe's secretary general Terry Davis said.
Noting Russia counted among the 47-member council and had signed the European Convention on Human Rights guaranteeing freedom of assembly, Davis added: "These are preconditions for a real democracy."
In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, "The United States is concerned by reports of aggressive tactics used by Russian authorities against opposition protestors yesterday in Moscow and other cities.
"We are particularly concerned by the arrests and detentions of leaders of the opposition, including Garry Kasparov, and call for them to be given proper access to legal counsel and fair treatment in processing."
Putin is due to step down after the presidential poll, but is standing as the lead candidate of United Russia, which is forecast to win at least two thirds of seats in next month's parliamentary elections.
On November 21 he referred to his opponents as Western-backed "jackals."
Meanwhile in the North Caucasus province of Karachaiyevo-Cherkessia, another opposition leader, Mikhail Kasyanov, was unable to meet with supporters after an anonymous bomb threat forced closure of the building he had booked for the event, Echo of Moscow reported.
The radio station also reported the arrest of another SPS candidate, retired general Eduard Vorobyev, as he distributed campaign literature in the region of Volgograd.
Vladimir Pribylovsky, a political expert and critic of Putin at the Panorama think tank, said Putin's aggressive rhetoric signalled how little he cares about criticism from abroad at a time when energy-rich Russia is bathed in petrodollars.
"Usually they don't touch Kasparov, since opposition leaders like him have international standing," he said. "But given the price of oil, they are now able to laugh at Western opinion."
Putin was due on Monday to visit Saint Petersburg, the country's second city, and the police operation on Sunday appeared designed to show clearly who was in charge.
City authorities had refused to authorise a march, giving permission only for a stationary demonstration in a different square. However, police could also be seen detaining dozens of people attending the authorised event.
"They have launched a military operation in the city," said Olga Kurnosova, an aide to Kasparov. "The authorities are scared of people who do not want to support the Putin personality cult."
