The protest against the results of the State Duma elections resulted in the adoption of the budget

The detentions of fifty participants in two Saturday protests against the results of the State Duma elections in Khabarovsk have already cost each detainee a fine of 500–1000 rubles, and these amounts may increase. The police believe that they acted according to the law, although the protesters accuse them of the opposite. Communist deputies, whose party comrades were among those detained, yesterday, as a sign of protest, disrupted the vote for the draft budget of the Khabarovsk Territory. The leadership of the Duma is shocked by the development of events.

Two protests on December 10 in Khabarovsk attracted a total of about 250–300 people (officially 80). At 4 p.m., a flash mob took place on Lenin Square, opposite the regional government building, and two hours later, an unauthorized rally. Mobbers dissatisfied with the election results agreed through social networks to simply stand with their mouths taped shut in front of the government building. The regional Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, however, explained on the eve of the action: what is called a flash mob on social networks is actually a rally, since it “sets political goals and attracts media representatives to its actions.”

At 4 p.m., more than a hundred people, mostly young people aged 16–22, gathered in the square, no more than forty of them with their mouths taped shut. After 10 minutes, police officers began to detain the latter one or two at a time, explaining this as a “violation of federal law 54-FZ.” The participants did not resist, but there were some incidents. Thus, several young communists were detained at once - they came to the square wearing clothes with the symbols of their party. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation did not officially participate in the action, but “the guys came on their own, and some by accident,” Anatoly Dronchenko, head of the regional committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, who was present at the flash mob, later explained to Kommersant. Channel One cameraman Alexey Shiyan was among those detained. “As soon as he showed his ID, he was allowed to get off the bus, which there are witnesses to, but he refused. The department released him,” Olga Mironenko, head of the press service of the regional Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, explained to Kommersant.

By 6 p.m., the square was surrounded by police and paddy wagons. About 150 people came to the rally - both young people and middle-aged people. From time to time, groups of young people with their faces covered with medical masks began chanting: “We demand re-elections!”, “We are for fair elections!” This time there were no mass arrests, although one of the activists, as eyewitnesses told Kommersant, was detained after he left the square - right at the pedestrian crossing, with the involvement of riot police.

In total, according to Olga Mironenko, 51 people were detained on Saturday. Protocols have been drawn up for all of them under Art. 19.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (disobedience to the order of a police officer). “Over the weekend, the magistrates’ courts recognized the actions of the police as legal and justified and imposed fines of 500–1,000 rubles on all protocols,” Ms. Mironenko emphasized. Another 30 protocols under Art. 20.2 (violation of the procedure for organizing or holding public events) will be considered by the courts this week, a police representative clarified.

However, participants in the events do not agree with this interpretation. One of the organizers of the flash mob told Kommersant yesterday that “at least one person was detained at the protest without warning and without explanation, immediately after the start of the protest, my comrade.” The young man simply would not have had time to resist, she explains. “All other arrests began after multiple warnings, but even then nothing was said: neither name, nor rank, no documents were presented, no reasons were announced,” insists the organizer of the flash mob. The former detainees will challenge the decisions of the courts and “as a last resort, money will be collected from all participants in the action for fines.” Mobbers are still ready to organize an authorized picket on December 17 and have not given up the idea of organizing a rally on December 24 in support of the second wave of protests.

Communist Anatoly Dronchenko believes that the police are wrong: “It has not been proven that this was even a picket, or even less a rally.” Lawyers of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, according to him, have already joined the courts. The reaction of the authorities is “inadequate, because they were scared,” the communist is sure.

And yesterday the Communist Party did everything to make the authorities even more nervous: the Communist Party faction in the regional Duma disrupted the adoption of the region's budget for 2012 in the third reading. 18 deputies, including two communists, arrived at yesterday's extraordinary meeting of the Duma, with a quorum of 17 people. The day before, three factions (the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the Liberal Democratic Party and A Just Russia, uniting 7 deputies out of 26) appealed to the leadership of the Duma with a request to invite security officials to the meeting to talk with them about violations in the elections. Mr. Dronchenko yesterday also invited the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs or his deputy to talk about the events of Saturday. After it became clear that none of the security officials would be able to come, the communists refused to vote for the draft budget law, and the meeting had to be postponed.

The leadership of the Duma was dumbfounded by this development of events. First Deputy Speaker Sergei Lugovskoy calls the communists' behavior blackmail: as he explains, Duma Speaker Sergei Khokhlov has already prepared letters to the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FSB Directorate and the prosecutor's office with a proposal to report on election violations at the next Duma meeting on December 21. “The letter from the three factions arrived on Friday, when the agenda of the extraordinary meeting could no longer be changed. We suggested that the communists vote on the agenda, and the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs be heard outside the Duma, at 15:00, but this did not suit them. Other factions did not insist on calling the security forces immediately,” says Mr. Lugovskoy.

The demarche of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation is incorrect, and it will create big problems for the regions, United Russia emphasizes. “The deadlines are very tight: the Ministry of Finance still needs to draw up signatures and notifications to the treasury. Everyone will have to speed up,” he says. According to Mr. Lugovsky, deputies will also experience inconvenience: they will have to incur additional travel expenses in order to arrive at the Duma meeting, tentatively scheduled for December 16, and vote on the budget.

Dmitry Shcherbakov, Mikhail Bulanov

The flash mob has reached its conclusion