Up to 7 years of general regime registration

Protests took place in St. Petersburg and Moscow against the new registration law. It all started when a group of civil activists, having agreed on Facebook, went to Red Square in Moscow with a huge banner “Go to <UNCENSORED> with your registration” and flares. The police, who are always on duty in the square, quickly rounded up the activists. The detentions were quite harsh; a policeman pulled one of the detainees by the ears . As a result, 14 people were taken to the police department. Even when the police dragged the activists into the paddy wagon, they continued to chant: “This is our country,” “Where we live is none of your business,” and sang a song about “Varyag.”

Photo: igor.vasilyev.msk/Facebook

So far, only one participant has been convicted for the action - Vera Lavreshina. She was given 8 days of arrest and a fine of 20 thousand rubles. From the moment of her arrest, Lavreshina went on a dry hunger strike, which she continues to this day. A trial has been scheduled for March 27 for the second participant in the action, Irina Kalmykova. The court dates of other activists are not known. While Lavreshina is under arrest, her comrades are holding single pickets in her support near the walls of the special detention center.

Moscow activists were supported by former Yabloko members and now the Spring youth movement. This action, unlike the Moscow one, was “polite.” Activists took to the Palace Square of the cultural capital with a banner: “Sir, you will fail with your registration.” Practice has shown - no swearing, no arrests. The activists stood and dispersed.

Photo: Spring Movement/vk.com

The third and so far last action against registration was a single picket by the leader of the deceived waiting list movement, mother of many children Ekaterina Maldon, on March 25, again on Red Square. Maldon came out with a poster even more obscene than that of the participants of the first protest. The activist wrote swear words about the new law in English and Kyrgyz. Police detained Maldon because she refused to say what the writing on her poster meant. One of the participants in the rally on Red Square explained to PublicPost that the inscription in Kyrgyz means “suck <UNCENSORED>”, but was written incorrectly. “Apparently, Catherine was in a hurry and inserted an extra letter “K” into the inscription,” the activist said.

Photo: Grani-TV

Ekaterina Maldon, leader of the deceived waiting list movement:

“I came to this action because I live in rented housing, because I can’t get an apartment, and I’m a mother of many children. None of the hunger strikes that we carried out help. Now only those on the waiting list in 2009 get apartments! I have nowhere to live, I have four children. I rent a house because there is no way to live with children in an emergency communal apartment. And now these ghouls have decided to pass a law prohibiting me from renting a house. Where should I live? Should I disappear in the fifth dimension with my children so that they don’t catch me? police?

They detained me after the end of the picket. They took me to the Kitay-Gorod police station with the words: “Here, they brought a political one.” I told them that I didn’t know what was written on the poster and pretended to be a rag. I say: “This is a set of letters, a puzzle.”

I know the participants of the previous action well and was offended that they did not invite me with them. Everyone who took part in it knew what they were getting into. Even Pussy Riot received nothing but a fine for the action at Lobnoye Mesto. We have nothing to fear."

The police opened a criminal case against the participants of the March 18 rally on Red Square under Part 2 of Article 213 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Hooliganism”). The websiteof the Prosecutor General's Office reports that "the picketers resisted law enforcement officers, using lit flares as weapons." They face up to seven years in prison. One of the participants in the pickets in support of Vera Lavreshina, who was arrested for 8 days, Marina Lavrukhina, told PublicPost that there was no resistance to the police during the rally on Red Square. “Everyone can be convinced of this by watching the video from the action, there is no resistance, and the fact that they used fireworks as weapons is generally nonsense. They were simply burned and that’s it, no one used them against the police,” Lavrukhina said.

On February 15, 2013, the State Duma adopted in the first reading a law on tightening registration rules; the draft law was introduced personally by Vladimir Putin. The law envisages the introduction of criminal liability for fictitious registration at the place of residence and place of stay. Violators face up to three years in prison. It is also planned to include in the Code of Administrative Offenses an article on punishment for living in an apartment without registration. The fine will be up to 5-7 thousand rubles. The amount will vary depending on the city. In the capital and St. Petersburg it will be higher.

On January 28, a campaign against the new law began on the Internet - the website "Propiske.Net" was launched. As one of the initiators of the campaign, Nikolai Lyaskin, told PublicPost, activists in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk and Yekaterinburg confirmed their intention to participate in the campaign. So, perhaps we will soon see promotions with unexpected banners in Novosibirsk and Yekaterinburg.