Rally in St. Petersburg

Correspondent: Petersburg. Trinity Square, formerly Revolution Square. Noon. According to the official statement, the rally was dedicated to protecting freedom of speech. But, naturally, recent events in Moscow have made this concept and the action launched in support of NTV almost synonymous. The impersonal wording of the rally acquired an absolutely clear focus. Since August 1991, St. Petersburg has always reacted very sharply to any changes in the political life of the country. But today's event is special. For the first time in St. Petersburg in the history of modern Russia, a rally was held specifically in defense of freedom of speech. One of the leitmotifs that was heard at the rally today is freedom of speech - it’s like air; when it’s there, you don’t notice it. But when she disappears it becomes scary. The rally in St. Petersburg, given that it is not only the second capital, but also the small homeland of the president, was given special significance. And the number of St. Petersburg residents who came to Trinity Square today is not just statistics. According to official data, this figure exceeded 5 thousand people. It is extremely difficult to say exactly how many arrived. Here are just the frames from which everyone can answer for themselves the question of whether it is a lot or a little. A special issue of Obshchaya Gazeta, which is published only after key events in modern Russian history, was delivered to St. Petersburg tonight. This is the seventh number in the last 10 years. People took the newspaper, but it was unlikely that anything printed in it changed their attitude to what was happening. It is a rare case when the voice of the street almost coincides with the general tone of newspaper articles.

Woman in the frame: I came here to say on behalf of my friends and people of my generation that we are not cogs in the state machine. We want freedom. And remind those in power that we are not for the state, but the state is for us.

Man in the frame: There is such a program “Teletubbies” on the all-Russian channel. And there at the end of the program such a cruel voice says: “Teletubbies, it’s time to sleep! Teletubbies, it’s time to sleep!” So we are not Teletubbies.

Woman in the frame: I wait every day for things to get better. But for some reason we are going backwards. And this worries me very much. I'm worried about my grandson. I care about my daughter. I want them to live in a free country.

Correspondent: An hour after the start of the rally, information came that the exit to the Gorkovskaya metro station was closed. Trains passed through it without stopping. This is the closest metro station to Trinity Square. The official explanation is preventative measures to avoid a stampede. It seemed that even the organizers of the rally - the St. Petersburg branches of Democratic Russia, Yabloko and SPS did not expect so many people to come. St. Petersburg has not seen such squares for a long time.

Mikhail Amosov, member of the Central Council of the Yabloko association, deputy of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg: Today, my friends, today here on the square, you and I are going through a lesson, an exam to be called a citizen, and all together to be called a people.

Correspondent: Almost all NTV journalists anticipated their appearance at the microphone with the words: “It’s very unusual for us to speak at rallies. But if freedom of speech in the country must be defended at rallies, then something is really happening in the country.”

Svetlana Sorokina, host of the “Voice of the People” program: It seems to me that here, in St. Petersburg, you will understand us even more. For all St. Petersburg residents, resistance to invasion is in their blood. I think that you will understand our tenacity, stubbornness and our solidarity and camaraderie all the more. We have lost too much in life, we have had too many losses to lose ourselves.

Ilya Zimin, NTV correspondent: What does the government want? The authorities want us to powder their noses, so that we turn into a domestic service and remove stains from their dirty uniforms. We don't know how to do this.

Correspondent: One of the statuses of St. Petersburg - the cultural capital - today found its confirmation in this square. Among the gathered representatives of the intelligentsia there were much more than representatives of the authorities. One of the indications that the situation with NTV is not limited only to the financial and economic conflict.

Igor Sklyar, actor: I think that this is an important, important, important place in our history, just like ’91, just like ’93 and 2001. But I think that many, many more such events must happen in Russia in order to slowly remove and eradicate from oneself the slavish and, not slavish, this is the Russian worldview in a bad sense, such a lazy and subordinate one. Because, as you know, life in prison is much calmer, it’s true. There is a routine.

Alexander Khalifman, world chess champion: I am not involved in politics. I'm not very interested in politics. But, firstly, there are basic concepts, such as freedom and you want to live in a free country.

Lev Lurie, historian: They just didn’t expect this, they simply underestimated the people they govern. They thought that they could organize everything, just like they organized the elections to the Duma, like they organized the artificial Unity party. But that's not true. People think, people don't want to have what their bosses want done to them.

Correspondent: The collection of signatures in defense of NTV continued for a very long time, even after the rally closed. According to our information, tomorrow the organizers of this action will be called for an interview in the offices of the authorities of the City district, on the territory of which the rally took place. The reasons have not yet been explained, but according to officials, they have a number of significant comments regarding the organization of this event, since the usual operating hours of city services were disrupted.

Yuri Zinchuk, Sergei Korolev, Sergei Vorobyov, Dmitry Plyustitin and Lev Rozhin. NTV. Petersburg.