March of the Dissatisfied

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
“March of the Dissatisfied” on March 3, 2007 in St. Petersburg

The March of the Dissatisfied ( Russian Марш несогласных , literally the March of the Disagreed ) is the name of a series of demonstrations that were organized by Russian opposition forces between 2005 and 2007. The organizers include very heterogeneous political groups, whose spectrum ranges from liberal pro-Western forces to right-wing and left-wing radical groups.

chronology

2005

A first demonstration called the March of the Dissatisfied took place on October 30, 2005 in Moscow's Lubyanka Square on the occasion of the memorial day for the victims of political persecution . Among other things, the United Citizens' Front, founded in the same year by the former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, called for the rally . Several Russian opposition associations, such as the Democratic Union of Valeria Novodworskaya, declined to participate because the organizers also included the controversial National Bolshevik Party of Russia . 300 to 400 people took part in the event.

In December of the same year, the United Citizens Front, together with other opposition organizations, organized dissatisfied marches in 20 Russian cities. In most cases the number of participants was only a few dozen.

2006

On December 1, 2006, the opposition alliance The Other Russia , which also includes the United Citizens Front, announced that it would hold a demonstration called the "March of the Dissatisfied" with up to 5,000 participants on December 16, 2006 in downtown Moscow. The corresponding press release stated:

"The main purpose of the march is to protest against the curtailment of civil and social rights and freedoms and against the destruction of the foundations of the constitutional order of Russia by today's rulers".

Organizers of the demonstration included the following associations, organized in the Alliance The Other Russia :

In addition, the organizers were joined by the radical communist avant-garde of the red youth and the organizations Oborona and Smena .

The liberal parties Union of Right Forces and Yabloko refused to participate in the demonstration.

The demonstration was originally supposed to start on Triumfalnaya Square and head towards the city center on Tverskaya Street . However, the city administration forbade the move and only allowed a rally on Teatralnaya Square . The organizers protested against this restriction and announced that they would be breaking the marching ban, whereupon Moscow officials accused them of inciting unrest. On December 12, the office of Garry Kasparov's United Civic Front was raided. The Ministry of the Interior justified this with the suspicion that the demonstration could lead to “extremist calls” by national Bolshevik or communist groups. Garry Kasparov, on the other hand, spoke of an attempt to intimidate the authorities.

According to official information, up to 4,000 people came to the demonstration in 2000, according to press reports. The event was monitored by 8,000 police and OMON forces . The rally itself passed without any major incident. Only when Garry Kasparov called on the participants to walk as a demonstration train to the “Belorussian Railway Station” subway station did the law enforcement officers step in. According to official figures, there have been around 70 arrests.

2007

March in Saint Petersburg on March 3, 2007

On February 1, 2007, the opposition alliance The Other Russia announced that it would hold a March of the Dissatisfied in Saint Petersburg on March 3 . The organizers announced a demonstration of around 2000 people, which was to lead from Ligowski Prospect via Suworowski Prospect to Smolny . However, the city administration prohibited a move in the city center, but offered a rally in front of the Finnish train station as an alternative . The reason for the ban on moving was that it would mean too great a hindrance to road traffic. The organizers of the march did not accept the alternative offer of the city administration and announced that they wanted to march on the originally planned route regardless of the ban. In addition to The Other Russia , the Petersburg section of the Yabloko party also called for participation in the march. On the announced day of the demonstration, several hundred people gathered at the original starting point. They broke through the barriers of the police stationed there as a precaution and moved up the Nevsky Prospect against the announced direction of march . There the march grew due to people pouring in. After a few hundred meters, the demonstration was stopped by OMON units and broken up by force. According to official information, 113 people were arrested, including the writer Eduard Limonov and the city parliamentarian Sergei Guljajew, who was one of the main organizers of the march. According to Interfax , the total number of demonstration participants was 2000 to 3000 people, and according to the Kommersant newspaper, at least 5000 people.

March in Nizhny Novgorod on March 24, 2007

A march of the dissatisfied in Nizhny Novgorod planned for March 24th followed a similar pattern to the previous march in Petersburg. The Other Russia regional organization there announced a demonstration that was to take place through the center of Nizhny Novgorod. The expected number of participants was given as 900 people. The city administration banned a march in the city center and offered as an alternative a demonstration outside the city center on Lenin Square. One of the reasons given was that a children's festival called the “City of Masters” was to take place on the same day in the city center. As in the previous marches, the organizers of the march announced that they would march on the originally planned route, regardless of the prohibition.

In the run-up to the forbidden march, several of the organizers were arrested and 60,000 copies of an agitation brochure of the United Citizens Front were confiscated. On March 24, the originally planned day of the demonstration, the city center was secured by a large contingent of 20,000 police officers. Isolated groups of a few dozen demonstrators who defied the ban on demonstrations were immediately arrested. In addition to the demonstrators, several journalists were also arrested. According to official figures, 30 people were arrested.

March in Moscow on April 14, 2007

According to the organizers, the March of the Dissatisfied, planned by The Other Russia for April 14 in Moscow, should lead from Pushkin Square via Tverskaya Street to Revolution Square. The Moscow authorities forbade the move, however, on the grounds that an event by Molodaja Gwardija, the youth organization of the United Russia party, was already planned on Pushkin Square . Instead, The Other Russia was offered to hold a pure rally in Turgenev Square. However, the organizers insisted on holding a march and called on their supporters to assemble in Pushkin Square and from there move to Turgenev Square. On the day of the announced march, the area around Pushkin Square was guarded by a large contingent of police and the OMON special unit . Attempts by the demonstrators to form columns were severely suppressed by the security forces. For a short time the demonstrators managed to form a column with around 800 participants. About 1,500 people finally gathered for the approved rally on Turgenev Square, the speakers included the satirist Viktor Shenderovich and the Russian ex-prime minister Mikhail Kassyanov .

According to the Kommersant newspaper, around 3,000 people took part in the protests. 500 were arrested, including opposition leader Garry Kasparov .

On the same day, a counter-event to the “March of the Dissatisfied” took place on the Moscow Sparrow Hills, which was called the “March of the Satisfied” (Russian Марш согласных, literally “March of those who agreed”). The youth organization of the United Russia party , Molodaja Gwardija , was the organizer of the event .

March in Saint Petersburg on April 15, 2007

The organizers of the second march in Petersburg, the United Citizens Front and the Petersburg Regional Association of Yabloko , announced a demonstration for April 15, which was to lead from the pioneer square to Smolny. However, as in the previous demonstrations, the city administration forbade a move through the city center and only allowed a rally on the pioneer square.

The rally itself, which was attended by around 2,000 people, went off without incident. However, when about 200 people gathered in front of a closed metro station after the end of the event, OMON units violently attacked those present because, in the opinion of the law enforcement officers, they were holding an unauthorized meeting. According to the Petersburg authorities, there were 120 arrests.

swell

  1. ↑ Ploščad 'slušala Kasparova ( Memento from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Novye Izvestija, October 31, 2005.
  2. ↑ Meždunarodny Den 'prav čeloveka - 2005 ( Memento from February 20, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Web portal Prava čeloveka v Rossii, December 11, 2005.
  3. ↑ See e.g. B. Zakonu rojut mogilu , MK v Nižnem Novgorode, December 14, 2005.
  4. ↑ Press release from “The Other Russia”, December 1, 2006.
  5. ↑ Press release from “The Other Russia”, December 13, 2006.
  6. ↑ Nesoglasnye promarširujut na Kremlin, Kommersant, December 2 of 2006.
  7. ↑ Stoličnye vlasti prigrozili “Maršu nesoglasnych” prokuraturoj, Kommersant, December 9, 2006.
  8. ↑ Marš soglasnych obsledovali na ekstremizm, Kommersant, December 13 of 2006.
  9. ↑ Nesoglasnye vyšli na ploščad ' ( Memento of 10 January 2007 at the Internet Archive ) Novye Izvestiya, December 18 of 2006.
  10. ↑ Press release from “The Other Russia”, February 2, 2007.
  11. ↑ Marš-Revans, Kommersant, March 5th of 2007.
  12. ↑ Eto naš gorod, Vedomosti, March 5, 2007.
  13. ↑ Presledovanie inakošestvujuščich, Kommersant, March 10, 2007.
  14. ↑ "Marš nesoglasnych" načal tur po Rossii, Kommersant, March 10 of 2007.
  15. ↑ "Marš nesoglasnych" delaet Novye Sagi, Kommersant March 14, 2007.
  16. ↑ V Nižnem Novgorode arestovan Tiraz oppozicionnoj gazety, Novye Izvestiya, March 22 of 2007.
  17. ↑ "Marš nesoglasnych" sobral okolo 20 tysjač, Kommersant, March 26 of 2007.
  18. ↑ Do masštabnych akcii oppozicii v Moskve ostalos 'men'še dvuch nedel' , Echo Moskvy, March 30, 2007, 2:30 p.m.
  19. ↑ "Marš nesoglasnych" zastrjal v očeredi, Kommersant, April 3 of 2007.
  20. ↑ Organizatory marša ne sobirajutsja menjat 'plan ..., Echo Moskvy, April 12, 2007, 6:24 pm.
  21. ↑ "Pacany, idem na soderžanie" Novye Izvestiya 16th April, 2007.
  22. ↑ Razgonnoje napadenije, Kommersant, April 21 of 2007.
  23. ↑ Prasdnik poslusanija, Kommersant, April 16, 2007.
  24. ↑ Moskovskije vlasti otkazali v razrešenii na provedenie "Marša nesoglasnych" na Puškinskoj ploščadi, April 2, 2007, 6:23 pm.
  25. ↑ "Nesoglasnym" predlagajut marširovat 'na meste, Kommersant, April 5 of 2007.
  26. ↑ Drugaja Rossija narvalas' na obyknovennuju, Kommersant, April 16, 2007.

Web links

Commons : Dissenters March  - album with pictures, videos and audio files
 Wikinews: Garry Kasparov was sentenced to a fine of 1000 rubles  - Article dated April 15, 2007