Translated material
Ryazan protest
In the Ryazan region, United Russia scored less than 40%. If we take into account the share of those who expressed their support for United Russia from the total number of voters in the region (the turnout was only 52.74%), it turns out that the “majority party” is rapidly losing the trust of the population. Without mass absentee voting, without coercion of workers by management, there would not have been even these truly disastrous 39.79% for United Russia in the region.
On the evening of election day, a protest rally took place in Ryazan. More than a hundred people gathered on Lenin Square and then proceeded through the city center past the regional government building to the site of the originally agreed meeting in the Trade Town.
However, right on the spot, the police suddenly began to use physical force in order to stop the action: tearing out posters and detaining people. Having received resistance (the majority of the participants were young men), they retreated, although they managed to detain two people and take away the megaphone from me. They failed to neutralize me myself - people didn’t let me.
It turned out that the city administration, a couple of days before the rally, unexpectedly banned it and postponed it to the 6th. At the same time, I, as the organizer, was not given any corresponding order; the police also refused to demonstrate it.
Even if this order was indeed issued by officials, it is illegal - they can propose changing the time of the event only within three days after submitting the notification. All the deadlines had passed by that time - I submitted the application to the mayor’s office on November 21.
The police, I am sure, understood perfectly well that they were committing complete lawlessness, but they still prevented us from carrying out the action. Which of the representatives of the Ryazan authorities is so afraid of the people that they give stupid and cowardly orders?
We refused to disperse until the “law enforcement officers” released the detainees and handed over the megaphone. The confrontation lasted more than an hour, but in the end we achieved our goal.
December 4 is just the beginning of the end of United Russia. At least in Ryazan. Are you afraid of the anger of people taking to the streets? There is nothing easier to avoid this - allow all, even the most objectionable candidates, to the elections, do not use administrative resources, do not falsify. Lose with dignity, in the end. Or was Governor Oleg Kovalev not taught to be honest as a child?