Protest anti -crisis

In Moscow, on January 14, civil activists conducted the action in support of political prisoners, in particular for the release of Ildar Dadin, as well as with a demand to coordinate the “anti -crisis rally”. The ATS-Info portal reports that soon after the start of the pickets, the police detained more than 40 people. The event was not agreed with the city authorities.

Among the detainees are activists Mark Halperin, Alexander Makarov and the chairman of the Environmental Protection Fund “Save Kuskovo” Vladimir Zalishcheak. He wrote on Twitter that a woman delivered to a car zak became ill. She was called an ambulance. The detentions were held with the use of force. Activists were delivered to the Department of Internal Affairs in the Basmanny District.

Activists of the New Opposition were going to hold an anti -crisis rally, but once again received the refusal of the Moscow authorities. Despite this, the organizers decided not to abandon the event at all, but to arrange it in the form of a meeting. Radio Liberty was told about this by opposition activist Mark Halperin.

- We submitted an application for this time, to this place, namely pure ponds, a monument to Griboedov, - to conduct an anti -crisis rally. But, unfortunately, the application was not satisfied. Therefore, we carry out a folk gathering, without sound-integrating equipment, without banners, without any attributes. If we have submitted an application, the authorities can regard it as you like, but according to the law, under Article 54, we hold a meeting that does not require notification. Therefore, from a formal point of view, we do not violate the law.

- Anti -crisis rally - it does not sound too specifically. What are the slogans and goals of the action?

- At this rally, we express our ideas and suggestions on how to withdraw the country out of the crisis - both political and economic. Economic as a result of political. We give the floor to civilian activists, groups of social protest. We spent the same popular gathering last year, at VDNH . Our application for a rally was also not satisfied.

Opposition activist Mark Halperin

- We know an example when a person is serving a sentence for participating in such shares. I mean Ildar Dadin .

- As for Ildar Dadin, the authorities are trying to intimidate the society in this way. To go to jail, you need to be a civilian activist and be detained repeatedly.

The authorities very "competently" intimidated people. We had about two to three hundred political prisoners, but this was enough to extinguish the wave of protest

- Do you think that your folk gathering or meeting will help to coordinate rallies in the future?

- I am sure of this, of course, we thus crush the power. If you do not coordinate us rallies, we are giving ways. The authorities will understand over time that it is useless to prohibit us something, we will still hold our event. Yes, 10 thousand people will not be there, but these will be the most irreconcilable people, and they are just dangerous for the authorities. Therefore, if the authorities want to fight with us, it will receive an answer in the form of several hundred implacable people. Their number will grow over time, and these folk gatherings will turn into real large rallies, but the authorities will achieve that they will be unauthorized, and nothing can be done with us.

- We remember the Strategy 31, but it ceased to exist, although it seemed that more and more people came to her rallies. Will the same thing happen here?

- The course of events can be different, but I hope that we are now rising on a new wave. After the events of 2011-2012, the authorities intimidated people with fines and landings, and many are afraid to go outside, fearing not even a police club-now they are not particularly beaten-but the fact that a person will lose his job, he will be imprisoned, they will not let him go abroad, because they will make a fine at a second violation of up to 300 thousand rubles at the customs. The authorities very "competently" intimidated people. In total, we have about two to three hundred political prisoners, but this was enough to extinguish a wave of protest, people were frightened. We slowly increase the number of people, revive the tradition in the form of walks - we go from triumphal to Red Square, to the Kremlin. While there are no detentions, we spent 13 walks and we will do it further - every Sunday at two in the afternoon. So after the decline we will, as they say, dance from the stove, from a hundred people and above.

Alexander Ryklin

The refusal of the authorities to agree on protest promotions has recently become the norm. And at the end of 2016 , the Moscow City Duma decided that even such a harmless form as a meeting of deputies with voters will also become possible with the permission of the authorities. The access to any authorities not allowed by the authorities is today fraught with serious consequences, says Alexander Ryklin, journalist and organizer of many well -known protest events.

- Of course, shares that are not agreed with the authorities are unsafe for participants. It never knows in advance how the police behave. Another thing, there is a general understanding that something needs to be done, if we do not want to put up with the state of things that are rooted in our country, then we must also go to inconsistent shares. There is no other way to change something.

- In your opinion, how does it make sense such a form of protest as a popular gathering?

- Why not? There can be any forms, and we practiced a variety of forms at the moment when the authorities did not coordinate the shares to us. And recently, this is the usual practice of the Department of Public Security under the Government of Moscow, it constantly violates the law without coordinating the shares. We had single pickets and meetings with deputies, now there is no this option. Such an action as a popular gathering has the right to exist.

- What is the measure of responsibility of the organizers for people who come to such promotions?

- Today everyone understands what they are dealing with. People who come to protest promotions are aware of where they go, and perfectly understand what consequences can be. As a rule, the formal organizers of those shares that were not agreed upon by the Moscow authorities, do not urge anyone to come anywhere. We use this formula: I will be there on this day, and you yourself look and think whether you should risk it or not. It seems to me the most preferable, it is impossible to complain about either from the legal or from a moral point of view. And here it is very important that the organizers of all this event themselves decide for something. By submitting an application for an agreed event today, the organizers should understand what they are ready to go in case of disagreement of this action, the probability of which is approaching a hundred percent today.

Once, all the same, people will go outside when they understand that they have no other opportunity to change the situation

- The most massive actions were those whose goals were clear and specific. People went outside after dishonest elections, to the procession against the "Law of Plotsy" and the War in Ukraine. Anti -crisis or anti -war actions are perceived too far ...

- I agree with you, this is perhaps too common, but I will repeat it again, it all has an extremely mediated attitude to the situation that can really arise. The catalyst for such really mass exits to the street, mass public performances were elections, as it was in many countries, or not elections, as it was in Egypt. It is impossible to predict and predict! It is necessary to think about the future, the models of the future need to be built, and today it will be stupid and irresponsible in a month that all of Moscow will be in the square.

- How many people are ready to participate in promotions today, realizing that they can lose their freedom or, at least, they can be attracted for an administrative violation?

- This is the situation when experience does not teach anything, and most importantly, does not indicate anything. Today it seems to us that there are units of such people who are ready to risk many, and tomorrow there are tens and hundreds of thousands in the square. It happened many times in various countries of the world. One day it will be in Russia. Once, people will go outside, when a huge number of people will understand that they have no other opportunity to change the situation in their hands. Today there is no other opportunity.