Freedom of assembly: media digest (March 11-17)

Meaning of words

According to the Yandex.News service, over the past week Russian-language media published 85 messages, 24 articles and 2 interviews in which the phrase “unauthorized rally” was used. Meanwhile, Russian legislation does not provide for the division of mass events into “authorized” and “unauthorized”.

**Legislation

(resolution of the Venice Commission)**

The European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) commented on the Constitutional Court’s ruling on the law on rallies, the Kommersant newspaper wrote on March 12. The Commission welcomed the decision of the Constitutional Court, but recognized it as incomplete. In this regard, experts strongly recommended that the State Duma make amendments, taking into account the opinion of not only the Constitutional Court, but also the commission itself. At the same time, a statement on the law on rallies was approved (it was prepared in the fall of 2012, but its approval was suspended while the case under this law was considered in the national Constitutional Court: “From its text it follows that the opinion of the consultants of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (which commissioned the VK conducted the examination) has not changed: the scandalous amendments, like the previous version of the law, do not comply with international standards and should be revised or repealed. These amendments, we recall, sharply tightened the rules for holding public events and sanctions for their violations.”

(Hyde parks in Moscow)

“Nezavisimaya Gazeta” : “The Moscow Government has fully complied with the directives of Mayor Sergei Sobyanin: by May 1 of this year. Two so-called Hyde parks will open in Moscow. The head of the Department of Regional Security of the city of Moscow, Alexey Mayorov, told yesterday how the sites for rallies will function and what work is currently underway, emphasizing that no one relieves the city of responsibility for ensuring the safety of citizens at events”: “Two sites are now being created in the city: in the Central Park of Culture and Culture named after Gorky (1000 sq. m.) and in Sokolniki Park (750 sq. m.). The maximum occupancy rate is up to 2 and 1.5 thousand people, respectively.” “To further ensure safety, Hyde parks are planned to be connected to video surveillance systems. The establishment of boundaries and their registration will be handled by the Department of Culture and the Department of Cultural Heritage.” “To organize a rally or meeting, you must send an information letter to the park or call. An information stand will be located both in the park itself and on the website. This was done so that those wishing to reserve a time and place would not get confused or interfere with each other. If information suddenly arises that two event organizers arrived at the same time, then the one who was first will be allowed into Hyde Park.”

“Near the Hyde parks it is planned to constantly have ambulances and rescue services in case of emergencies or conflicts between protest participants,” the New Izvestia newspaper clarifies .

“As for the topics of the speech, they can be anything, political, social, related to ecology, culture, in a word, anything, but again with a caveat - everything must be within the law: when calling for national wars , homosexuality and other things, we will take measures,” Mayorov explained. - Violators of the law will be subject to administrative or criminal liability. For example, we will not punish for the appearance of clothing, but if there are calls for illegal actions, punishment will follow. One more thing, it is impossible to organize processions, for example, from the metro to the site without notifying the authorities. After all, for such a procession it is necessary to block the road to ensure the safety of the participants. But you can march around the designated place for the rally,” writes “Rossiyskaya Gazeta”

Amnesty International comment : “Recent news about the opening of the so-called. the guide to parks in Moscow once again gives us reason to declare that Amnesty International considers the idea of ​​creating special zones in cities for peaceful public actions to be ridiculous. A picket is inherently intended to be held in a public place. Isolating participants in remote places, in Hyde parks, where picketers cannot reach those to whom they would like to convey their protest, contradicts the essence of the right to freedom of assembly.”

Let us recall that in February 2012 the Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional the provision of the law on rallies that established special places for holding public rallies without the consent of the authorities (we are talking about the so-called “Hyde parks”, which were supposed to appear in all regions by January 1, 2013 ). The court decision emphasizes that this paragraph is not formulated clearly enough. Until this provision is finalized and corrected, places for uncoordinated actions must be allocated in each urban district and municipal district ( text of the resolution of the Constitutional Court ).

Refusals to approve events

The Moscow authorities refused to approve the action of the human rights movement Amnesty International, planned as part of the campaign for the abolition of the death penalty and timed to coincide with the anniversary of the execution in Belarus of death sentences against Konovalov and Kovalev on charges of organizing an explosion in the Minsk metro. Members of the organization planned to hold a picket near the Belarusian Embassy, ​​but the prefecture of the Central Administrative District considered the location inconvenient from a security point of view. An assessment of the situation was published on the Amnesty International website: “We regard the refusal of the Moscow authorities to allow a picket for the abolition of the death penalty in Belarus in front of the embassy of this country in Moscow as further evidence of an attack on civil society and disregard for international human rights law.”

The Sochi branch of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation failed to coordinate with the city authorities a rally against the increase in tariffs for housing and communal services, which was supposed to be held on March 23. According to the leader of the local branch of the Communist Party, Yuri Dzagania, “the city administration notified the communists by letter that the place where it was planned to hold the rally from 13 to 15 hours on March 23 will be occupied - the Young Guard will hold an event there.” “It is legally impossible for them to submit an application before us, since we notified the administration in advance. The authorities can no longer restrain popular indignation and are forced to resort to all sorts of tricks,” Dzagania said.

The Oktyabrsky District Court of the city of Stavropol did not satisfy the claim against the refusal to approve the picket demanding the Stavropol Territory to secede from the North Caucasus Federal District, the “Caucasian Knot” writes on March 17. The authorities did not approve the action, citing an appeal from the head of the city police department dated February 25: “There remains a difficult operational situation in the city of Stavropol, the possibility of committing terrorist acts and extremist actions in places where mass events are held. I ask you to reduce the holding of public, cultural, entertainment and sports events.” events on the territory of the city of Stavropol."

Detentions at rallies

During the elections on Uzlovaya on March 11, 16 observers were detained at election commissions. Two activists of “The Other Russia” were detained on March 16 after an action on Tsvetnoy Boulevard.

In St. Petersburg, during a rally against the development of Malinovka Park (the construction of a temple is planned on its territory), two people from a group of young people with posters “Russia for gays” were detained. Police officers and the organizers of the action called them “provocateurs,” reports Fontanka.ru. This is how Komsomolskaya Pravda describes what happened: “Yes, they have a rainbow drawn! – people gasped when they noticed the image. – We don’t need this! Apparently, the activists decided to agitate a little among the people for their views. But the police stopped the activities of those who had attached themselves. The posters were quickly folded. LGBT activists were detained.”

The uncoordinated action of nationalists in Novokuznetsk ended with arrests on March 17. Local media write about the beginning of the action: “At about one o’clock in the afternoon, utility workers with snow removal equipment, law enforcement officers and police cars gathered here. Novokuznetsk residents passing by wondered about the reasons for such attention to the snow removal process. As it turned out, today, March 17 at one o’clock in the afternoon, another nationalist rally against the construction of a mosque in Novokuznetsk was planned on this square.” According to observers, this time there were actually as many police officers as there were protesters. “The rally was held in the best traditions of Novokuznetsk. Snow removal, police cordon and on the bus until identification. I love our government, in order to prevent a meeting of 50 citizens, they spent about 100,000 rubles from taxes,” Novokuznetsk residents spoke out on the social network.”

A description of further events was published on the website web-compromat.com: “Some of the detainees, according to observations, really adhered to nationalist ideas and behaved actively; in any case, they supported the chants of “Russia for the Russians,” “Down with the mosque” and “Glory.” Russia”, they tried to find out from the police their nationality and attitude towards the construction of the mosque, they acted, frankly, defiantly. But about half of those detained were clearly random people who were taken “for the plan.” A guy who introduced himself as Alexey, for example, was driving home from his shift; he stopped, interested in the spectacle, and was detained. Some learned about the event from social networks and came to have a look, not expecting that they would “get caught.”

At the “Tank Drivers Day”, held in Sverdlovsk on March 15, an activist was detained for suspicious slogans on a shovel. The Yekaterinburg newspaper “Evening Vedomosti” writes about this: “As the activist explained, two hours after his arrest he was released, explaining that the reason for his arrest was a shovel that Rybakov tried to bring to the rally. The shovel, according to the social activist, was wooden, for snow, but the police officers were interested not only in the household item itself, but also in the slogans written on it: “Snow of Tagil” and “Sun to help.” As Rybakov explains, the last “slogan” is addressed to the head of the Yekaterinburg City Administration, Alexander Yakob, and clearly hints at the latter’s inability to independently solve the problem of clearing the city of snow. At the police department where the activist was taken for investigation, they explained that the shovel could not be taken to the rally, as it could be used as a weapon. An expert from department “E”, which deals with the fight against extremists, was also invited, after consultation with whom the police decided to release the social activist.”

Stock

(pro-government)

A number of actions in support of the authorities' policies took place this week in Voronezh. On March 15, members of the “Young Guard of United Russia” held a picket near the Voronezh House of Human Rights. Information about him was published on the portal article20.org, dedicated to freedom of assembly: “Eyewitnesses write: “The gentlemen were not very ready for a constructive discussion; when asked about what they want, they demanded that we close down and stop promoting alcohol. In response to our response that we are not doing this, and it’s not their business to close us down, they were deflated, but they continued to yell colorfully, becoming more and more incensed by themselves.”

On March 17, a rally was held against the propaganda of homosexuality and pedophilia, a kind of response to the rally in support of LGBT people held on January 20: “This is our internal enemy and we will do the same with it as with the external one,” one of the organizers, invited from capital while the stage for the action was being assembled. - And we are hitting the external enemy! We do not bow our heads before him: come, capture, destroy us. It’s the same here.” “We know that 90 percent of all show business is gay,” said one activist. “Almost all television is propaganda of homosexuality, debauchery, and various perversions.” “The majority of the population is against perverts marching here,” said one of the event organizers. “This is our right, and we don’t go into bed with them.” We will not stop until we pass a law banning LGBT propaganda and pedophilia!” According to local media estimates , about 100 people took part in the action.

“At the end of the action, the participants released into the sky portraits of Voronezh human rights activists who defend the rights of sexual minorities, with the inscription “To Mars,” writes Komsomolskaya Pravda.

(nationalist)

The publication YUGA.ru describes the action against the rock festival “Kubana” that took place in Krasnodar: “On March 16 in Krasnodar, the public organization “Sober Kuban” held the so-called. youth sports race “Kuban without “Kubana”. Those who gathered for the unauthorized event expressed their protest against the holding of a large-scale rock festival KUBANA in the Krasnodar region, which annually brings together the world's leading performers and tens of thousands of spectators. According to the organizers, about 100 people took part in the race. Those gathered chanted: “Russian means sober”, “Sober means strong”, “As long as we are united, we are invincible”, “Kuban - without Kuban”, “Sober parents - healthy children”. Presumption of "Albert Gayamyan and a number of nationalist organizations."

(Orthodox)

About thirty people dressed in Cossack uniforms burst into the building of the Electron FM radio station in the city of Krymsk on March 15, demanding the dismissal of the chief editor of the news service Valery Donskoy, who, in their opinion, distorted information about the Cossacks and the Russian Orthodox Church, reports Moskvosky Komsomol member.” “The police called to the scene of unrest did not interfere with the Cossacks, citing the fact that their actions cannot be called a rally, since there are no signs with slogans. To resolve the conflict, Donskoy invited the people who came to speak with their demands live on the radio station, but none of the Cossacks agreed to this.”

“The representative of the regional administration, vice-governor, ataman of the Kuban Cossack army Nikolai Doluda also took the side of the Cossacks: “I did not send them there, I did not send the ataman of the department, I did not send the ataman of the region and the Cossack society. But I think that they are great, they showed their civic position, the position of the Cossacks of the Kuban Cossack Army. For some reason, no one is talking about the fact that this young man organized real persecution,” writes “Arguments and Facts”

(socio-economic)

Protests were held in the regions against rising prices for housing and communal services. In the center of Volgograd, according to the regional department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the rally on March 16 brought together about 600 participants , RIA Novosti reports , in Tutaev, Yaroslavl region - about 300 people , in Serov (where the initiator was “A Just Russia” - about 200. On the same day, a rally in Dolgoprudny, near Moscow, and in Angarsk, Irkutsk region ( according to the organizer - the Communist Party of the Russian Federation - the latter attracted about 800 people). In the city of Dalnegorsk in the Primorsky Territory, on March 17, an action against the introduction of the social norm for electricity was held, during which 500 people signed a petition to the local authorities, writes “Komsomolskaya Pravda”. In addition, rallies are planned for March 23 in Nizhny Novgorod (organized by the “Left Front”) and in Yaroslavl (Communist Party), on March 24 in Balakovo (Communist Party), and on March 31 a rally demanding a reduction in tariffs will be held . in Ryazan (“Other Russia”).

On March 15, a rally of the “Civil Initiative” movement took place in Surgut with the support of the city branch of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation against corruption and arbitrariness in the mortgage sector.

Seven defrauded shareholders came out to the Tyumen administration building on March 15 with poetic slogans. On March 16, a picket of defrauded shareholders was held in Balashikha. According to the Podmoskovye TV channel, about 50 people took part in the action. A similar event took place in Ivanteevka near Moscow. The next day, a rally on the same topic took place in Noinsk. According to the organizers, about 80 people attended.

On March 16, a rally of workers of the Kirovgrad poultry farm was held in Verkhny Tagil in defense of respect for workers’ rights, the preservation of the factory, the team and the settlement. According to JustMedia, about 400 people took part in it: “As Natalya Shamsutdinova, chairman of the trade union committee of the Kirovgrad poultry farm, told JustMedia, the factory management staged provocations to disrupt the meeting. However, thanks to the prompt intervention of the Nevyansk police, the order of the meeting was observed. “At first, members of another trade union, Solidarity, created by the factory management, barricaded the entrance to the village entrance. The police stopped their actions. Then they came to the square and tried to organize their rally. But the police reminded them that they have no right to stop us from holding a rally and that their rally is unauthorized,” says Natalya Shamsutdinova. She also added that “Solidarity” had only a few workers from the Kirovgrad factory, because the majority, about 50 people, came from the Krasnouralsk poultry factory.”

(political )

The Coordinating Council of the opposition approved on March 16 the schedule of shares for April-May 2012 (the document was published on the blog of Alexei Navalny). At this time, two major events are planned: on April 6 (International Day of Unified Actions in Supporting Political Personents) and May 6 - (a series of pickets and a rally). In addition, the council participants plan to organize the days of support for the accused in the “swamp business”, walks with protest symbols, and during the first May holidays - a round -the -clock picket on Manezhnaya Square.

Freedom of Assembly: Media Digest (March 4-10, 2013)

Freedom of assembly: media digest (February 25 - March 3, 2013)

Freedom of Assembly: Digest Media (February 16-24, 2013)