Protests in Russia 2011(Occupy Russia Movement? Lol.)
Protests in Russia 2011(Occupy Russia Movement? Lol.)
The 2011 Russian protests began as a response to the Russian legislative election process, which many Russian and foreign journalists, political activists and members of the public considered to be flawed. On 10 December 2011, after a week of small-scale demonstrations, Russia saw the biggest protests in Moscow since the fall of the Soviet Union. The focus of the protests have been the ruling party, United Russia, and Vladimir Putin, the current Prime Minister and previous two-term President, who has announced his intention to run again for President in 2012.
According to RIA Novosti, there were more than 1,100 official reports of election irregularities across the country, including allegations of vote fraud, obstruction of observers and illegal campaigning. Members of the A Just Russia, Yabloko and Communist parties reported that voters were shuttled between multiple polling stations to cast several ballots. The Yabloko and Liberal Democratic parties reported that some of their observers had been banned from witnessing the sealing of the ballot boxes and from gathering video footage, and some were groundlessly expelled from polling stations. The ruling United Russia party alleged that the opposition parties had engaged in illegal campaigning by distributing leaflets and newspapers at polling stations and that at some polling stations the voters had been ordered to vote for the Communist party with threats of violence.
Timeline of Protest in Russia from December 5 onwards:
On 5 December, opponents of the government began protesting in Moscow, numbering around 5,000, denouncing Vladimir Putin and his government and what they believed were flawed elections. Campaigners argued that the elections had been a sham and demanded that Putin step down, whilst some demanded revolution. Alexey Navalny, a top blogger and anti-corruption activist who branded Putin's political party, United Russia, as the "Party of Swindlers and Thieves”, is credited with initial mobilization of mass protests through postings on his LiveJournal blog and Twitter account. Navalny's agitation was denounced by United Russia, as "typical dirty self-promotion" and a profane tweet regarding him originated from Medvedev’s Twitter account.
Many pro-government supporters, including the pro-Putin youth group Nashi, were mobilized on 6 December at the site of the planned demonstration where they made noise in support of the government and United Russia. There was a 15,000-strong rally of Nashi on Manezhnaya Square and a 8,000-strong rally of the Young Guard on Revolution Square. About 500 pro-United Russia activists marched near Red Square. Truck loads of soldiers and police, as well as water cannon were deployed ahead of expected anti-government protests, and it emerged that 300 protesters had been arrested in Moscow the night before, along with 120 in St. Petersburg. During the night of 6 December, at least 600 protesters were reported to be in Triumphalnaya square chanting slogans against Putin, whilst anti-government protesters at Revolution Square clashed with riot police and interior ministry troops, with the police chasing around 100 away, arresting some. Protest numbers later reportedly reached over 1,000 at Triumphalnaya Square and dozens of arrests were reported, including Boris Nemtsov, an opposition leader and former deputy prime minister, and Alexey Navalny. Over 250 arrests were made, with police using buses to transport the suspects to police stations to be charged. At least one Russian journalist claimed he was beaten by police officers who stamped on him and hit his legs with batons. Another 200 arrests were reported in St. Petersburg and 25 in Rostov the same night as anti-government demonstrations took place. After three and a half hours, the Moscow protest came to an end.
Attempts to stage a large protest in Moscow on 7 December fizzled out due to a large police presence in the city.
Domestic media coverage
According to the BBC on 7 December, "State TV channels have ignored the protests, giving coverage only to rallies in support of the government." In contrast, newspapers have mentioned the protests in more depth. The only federal TV station to mention the protests at length before 10 December was the independent, but not broadcast widely, Ren TV. By 10 December, however, all the main channels were covering the protests.
Symbols
The white ribbon emerged in October 2011 as a symbol of opposition and since the elections has picked up momentum. Some Russians have been tying it to their clothing, cars, and other objects, and the motif has appeared on runet and on Twitter. By 10 December, the Dozhd television channel was showing a white ribbon by its on-screen logo. The station's owner, Natalya Sindeyeva, explained this as being a sign of "sincerity", rather than "propaganda", and an attempt to be "mediators" instead of simply journalists. NTV described 10 December as the day of "white ribbons".
Twitter
Twitter users in Russia have reported being overwhelmed by pro-government tweets timed to Bolotnaya Square protest-related tweets. Many tweets seem to have been sent by hijacked computers, though the perpetrator(s) are not yet known.
Reactions
On 7 December, Mikhail Gorbachev, former President of the Soviet Union, said he felt that a new election should be held to quell public anger over the fraudulent election. He said that the number of Russians who believed the election was rigged was rising daily and that the government needed to listen to public opinion to prevent more civil unrest.
Vladimir Putin said that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's comments on the election "set the tone for some opposition activists" to act "in accordance with the well-known scenario of a color revolution and in their own mercenary political interests", although Clinton stated that they expressed "well-founded concerns about the conduct of the elections.” An analyst for the BBC wrote that comments like Putin's blaming the West for street protest were "very much old software”.
According to a report in The Wall Street Journal a request was made by Russia's Federal Security Service, the successor to the KGB, to the social media site VKontakte to block opposition groups who 'encourage people to “trash the streets, to organize a revolution.” The request was declined due to the generally peaceful nature of the protests.
10th of December:
Attempts to disrupt the protests and the organizations supporting them included repeated prank calls to Yabloko and Novaya Gazeta. Russia’s chief public health official, Gennady Onishchenko, warned on Friday that protesters risked respiratory infections such as the flu or SARS. Warnings were issued that the police would be looking for draft dodgers at the protests. Students in Moscow were ordered to report Saturday during the time scheduled for the demonstration to an exam followed by a special class conducted by headmasters regarding "rules of safe behavior in the city." Opposition Twitter posts were spammed by a botnet and a YouTube video, Москва! Болотная площадь! 10 Декабря!, was posted of orcs storming a castle shouting, "Russia without Putin." Supporters of the protests responded with guerrilla theater by FEMEN and circulation of a photoshopped image of Putin dressed as Muammar el-Qaddafi.
The Telegraph reported at 10:40 GMT that "Half an hour into what is likely to be Moscow’s biggest demonstration since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia’s biggest state-controlled television station, Channel One, has no mention of the popular unrest on its website." Journalist Andrew Osborn noted a bad 3G telephone signal in Bolotnaya Square, asking "Wonder if they have deliberately shut off in protest area [sic]". The Guardian also reported that mobile internet had been "cut off" in the square.
The Moscow demonstration was generally peaceful ending in the afternoon with the singing of Viktor Tsoi's song "Peremen" meaning "Changes", a perestroika anthem from the 1980s. Reports of the demonstration including its large size and demands for new elections were carried on the evening news in Russia by state controlled media.
Police in Moscow estimated the protest numbers to be around 25,000, whilst the opposition claimed around 40,000 people were present during the demonstration. Other activists claimed as many as 60,000 protesters in Bolotnaya Square, Moscow
Scheduled protest in December 24, 2011.
Protesters have scheduled follow-up demonstrations for December 24 if the demands are not met.
For additional news feeds of the Russian Protests, follow these links.
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