RUSSIA: Kremlin's radical opposition vow to hold new protests

Former Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, one of the leaders of the Other Russia opposition coalition pledges to continue the fight against Russia's "immoral regime", while the Kremlin defends tough police action against weekend opposition rallies. The Kremlin on Monday (April 16) defended tough police action this weekend against opposition rallies, saying they had to stop "ultra-radicals" from violating law and order, but the radical opposition vowed to hold new protests. Former Russian Prime Minister, Mikhail Kasyanov, a leader of the "Other Russia" movement which unites vocal Putin opponents and organised the weekend rallies, pledged the fight against the "immoral regime" would continue. "Marches of discontent as a form of mass protest will of course continue. We will try to achieve that the authorities stoop acting like they did before, so that they allow, or to be more correct , insure the order in accordance with our laws, and we will try to stop them ignoring our requests (for marches), which we always give in advance according existing laws. We will also try to stop them (authorities) from infringing our rights, from depriving them from our rights on meetings and demonstrations and of course we will continue to express our disagreement with the (political) course on different issues during these meetings and rallies," Kasyanov said on Moscow's independent Ekho Moskvy radio station. "Many of my colleagues told me that the present authorities are immoral and they are capable of doing anything ,but I did not believe them. The events of yesterday and the day before yesterday showed to me that I was wrong, unfortunately. And of course the main conclusion (of mine) is that our authorities are fully responsible for this, fully responsible and have to answer for it. All those people who gave illegal orders, those people who illegally banned the march, those people who ordered law-enforcement bodies to carry out illegal orders including biting up people have to answer for it," said Kasyanov. "The authorities themselves are provoking this stand-off," he said. "We witness the ultimate suppression of political freedom ... it looks like they are telling us, 'get down on your knees, cringe and do what we tell you to do'." Ekho Moskvy said the FSB security service had launched "checks" of a Kasparov radio speech on April 8 in which he urged people to join the rallies, saying he could be accused of "a public call to extremism". Kasparov is a leader of Other Russia. Putin is popular across Russia as the economy grows, propelled by high world prices for the nation's oil. United Russia, the ruling party patronised by Putin, is set to perform well in parliamentary polls due in December. A candidate favoured by Putin is sure to win in a presidential vote next March when he steps down after eight years in power. Kasyanov said Putin's popularity was a product of powerful state propaganda and domination of the media. Germany, currently holding the presidency of the European Union, said earlier on Monday the crackdown on anti-Kremlin protesters and media was "unacceptable" and demanded Moscow explain its actions. The United States voiced "deep concern" over how authorities broke up the demonstrations, calling it "heavy-handed ... and an emerging pattern of use of excessive force". The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights said the events "form part of a growing crackdown on opposition forces in Russia ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections in late 2007 and early 2008". Russian police detained hundreds of people in Moscow, including chess champion Gary Kasparov, on Saturday as they dispersed an attempt by President Vladimir Putin's opponents to hold "a march of the discontented" near the Kremlin. Police also took journalists, including German television reporters, into custody, prompting a complaint by the German embassy in Moscow. On Sunday, riot police beat and chased anti-Kremlin protesters through the heart of Russia's second-largest city St. Petersburg.

ITN Source | April 17, 2007

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