Russians present letters of protest in demonstrations
Grievances against government filed at offices; 120 arrested in St. Petersburg
MOSCOW — Thousands of Russians lined up in cities across their country Saturday to present letters of protest at government offices, the second widespread show of public discontent in two months.
The protests, initiated by the Open Russia organization founded by Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, an exiled former oil tycoon, centered on the right of all Russians to present letters listing grievances to the government.
Some of the protests turned violent.
Nearly 120 people were arrested in St. Petersburg, according to OVD Info, an independent organization that tracks protest arrests, and there were scattered detentions in at least a half-dozen other cities. A heavy police presence in Samara thwarted any protest there, organizers said.
Pictures of the protest in St. Petersburg, which organizers said had attracted about 300 people, showed riot police officers hustling protesters onto buses, including one older woman holding a sign critical of President Vladimir Putin, which said, “V.V. Putin — there is a way out — take a pension.”
The overarching theme for the day was “Nodoel!” or “Enough!” as in enough of Putin and his government. Signs and many petitions called on him not to seek a fourth term in next year’s presidential election. He is expected to run, although he has yet to officially declare his plans.
“We have Putin, we don’t need food,” read one sarcastic protest sign in the Siberian city of Tomsk, where some press reports said 500 people had participated.
Before Saturday, Open Russia announced that it had organized protests in about 30 cities.
Overall, the number of participants was smaller than the tens of thousands who turned out in about 80 cities for protests called by the main opposition leader, Alexei A. Navalny, on March 26. Navalny has called for more demonstrations on June 12.
In Moscow, hundreds of people holding petitions lined the sidewalk near the Kremlin administration building between Red Square and Staraya Ploshad, or Old Square.
For a little more than two hours starting around 2 p.m., petitioners filed into a government office to present their letters, many of them written on the spot.
In the days before the protest, the government had deployed construction equipment and barriers near the office that handles such letters, leaving organizers to believe the entrance would be blocked.
After word went out that the letters were indeed being accepted, many more people arrived to stand in line. Organizers said that an early count found that at least 1,500 people had presented petitions in Moscow.
“We must participate in such events to show the authority that more and more people whose rights are being violated are against this,” a 30-year-old marketing specialist who identified herself only as Veronika said as she wrote her letter. Many participants were reluctant to give their names because of the legal problems faced by numerous people who took part in previous protests. “I want to live in a country where laws are observed,” she said.
Another protester who declined to give his full name, Alexander, 26, said he had tried to start an emergency services company to work in gas fields and had been blocked at every turn. “They keep telling me that they don’t have the budget, maybe because the prime minister stole $70 billion,” he said, referring to recent accusations against Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in a YouTube video produced by Navalny.
“The government does not care about ordinary people — about our salaries, medication, our rights, nothing,” Alexander said.
Many of those presenting petitions acknowledged that the relatively low turnout and the government’s general indifference meant the protests would probably not have much of an effect. But they said it was time to start pushing back against an erosion of civil liberties and the country’s poor economic performance.
The anti-corruption theme burst into new prominence on March 26, with marches that included many young people in about 80 Russian cities.
The protests were called by Navalny, who was subsequently jailed for 15 days for organizing them. More than 1,000 people were arrested in Moscow alone and have steadily been brought to court.
Navalny appears to have hit a public nerve with a series of videos accusing senior government officials of widespread corruption.
His latest video focused on what he said was a group of four bogus charities that spend more than $66 billion annually to maintain a series of luxurious residences for the prime minister.
Navalny was doused with green dye for a second time Thursday, and one eye required medical treatment. He appeared on his YouTube channel afterward, tinted slightly green, to answer questions from around the country.
He expressed support for the idea of submitting petitions Saturday, but he said he doubted that doing so would produce any positive results.
Asked about the Saturday protest last week, Dmitri S. Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, noted that it was illegal and would be dealt with accordingly. Police in Moscow repeatedly ordered anyone lingering on the sidewalk to move on, but otherwise treated the protesters respectfully.