Disputes over numbers

The head of the Moscow Helsinki Group, Lyudmila Alekseeva, managed to get the Moscow authorities to agree to allow an action on October 31 on Triumfalnaya Square in support of Article 31 of the Constitution if no more than 800 people (more precisely, 800 participants and 200 journalists) attend it. Previously, they demanded to limit the number of participants to 200, but the organizers of the action did not agree with this, and then the mayor’s office reported that the action would be refused. Now, after a conversation with Alekseeva, the authorities are ready to make concessions. The location is between two fences perpendicular to Brestskaya Street. It should be noted that until now the authorities have refused eleven times to allow a rally on Triumphal Square, either offering other places or not offering anything. Those who came to the square regularly encountered aggressive riot police, many were detained and beaten.

But other organizers of the action, leader of the Other Russia Eduard Limonov and Left Front activist Konstantin Kosyakin, demand that the authorities accept the number of participants that was originally indicated in the application - 1,500 people. Alekseeva, in a conversation with Interfax, called Limonov’s position erroneous: “If Limonov positions himself as a politician, then he should be able to use his position based on the prevailing circumstances,” the agency quotes her as saying. The mayor’s office accepts Alekseeva’s position as a negotiator, but does not consider the refusal of Limonov and Kosyakin, “published in the Internet media,” to be an official document. However, as Gazeta.Ru reports from the words of the press secretary of the Strategy-31 movement, Alexander Averin, the text of Limonov and Kosyakin’s appeal demanding that the rally be held in full was read to a representative of the mayor’s office over the phone. So far, disagreements among the organizers of the action remain. According to Interfax, Alekseeva said that she does not yet know whether she will remain a co-organizer of the actions on Triumfalnaya Square in this situation. Gazeta.Ru reports from her that she hopes for the understanding of the city authorities, and also that the proposed site for 800 people will accommodate a larger number of participants.