Putin prefers to ignore protests
MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin vowed yesterday not to bow in the face of social upheaval as tens of thousands of protesters marched against his third term.
The so-called March of Millions — the first since Putin in May extended his 12-year domination of Russia through to at least 2018 — in central Moscow’s leafy boulevards ended with a rainsoaked rally. No arrests were reported.
But anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny and AList television host Ksenia Sobchak were being interrogated in a security sweep that seemed designed to keep them off stage.
“Dear
friends,
they
are afraid of us and we aren’t afraid of them,” protest leader Boris Nemtsov told the masses on an avenue named after the Soviet-era Nobel Peace Prize winner Andrei Sakharov.
A police officer later walked backstage to hand Nemtsov a warrant to appear for questioning later in the day. One organiser put attendance at more than 100,000 while the city’s police department put the number at 18,000. Aerial television footage of the main rally suggested a figure at least double the police estimate.
Putin used a speech honouring Russia’s post-Soviet independence day to allude gravely to the turmoil now shaking some countries that he vowed against.
“We cannot tolerate decisions and actions capable of leading to social and economic shocks,” Putin told a formal Kremlin ceremony in televised remarks.
“We cannot accept anything that weakens our country or divides society.”
He said any future political changes would be “based on our accumulated experience of stability” — a mantra of his election campaign.
Putin has preferred to treat the protests dismissively and has repeatedly accused Washington of helping incite the demonstrations through indirect funding.
US State
to
defend
firmly
Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters on Monday that Washington “is deeply concerned by the apparent harassment of Russian political opposition figures on the eve of the planned demonstrations.”
Navalny — seen as a potential election rival to Putin who has gained a share of national recognition in just a matter of months — said the group was questioned “about our incomes going back to January 1, 2005”.
He later tweeted that investigators were searching his anti-corruption fund’s offices while he himself had been asked to return for another session of questioning today. — AFP