Wednesday 09 July 2008
29/11/2007 / RUSSIA
The regime will not hesitate to take extreme measures. We already know that the authorities are not allergic to blood. We've seen proof of it at the Nord Ost site, we've seen it in Beslan [...]. They’ll stop at nothing. But we must remember: if our numbers grow large enough, this will make them afraid, because their fear of us is greater than the fear they can instil in our souls. It's no coincidence that they send SWAT teams from all over the country whenever there's a dissenters' march. They're so scared of us, they won't even allow a peaceful march, the only aim of which is to present our claims to the Central Elections Committee and to the government."
Kasparov and (Eduard) Limonov (the leader of National Bolshevik party) were pushed against the wall by several helmeted fighters. A second before that, one of the officers next to me commanded: "Arrest them!" And the arrest began - a group dressed in civilian clothes and another comprising "spacemen" (police in helmets - ed.) formed a tight square around the leaders and walked them through the crowd, pushing aside the photographers who tried to take pictures of the scene. This was the harshest arrest I've seen, yet."
They say that "the bloodthirsty KGB has installed a dictatorship in the country". Come on, it's ridiculous! If there was a dictatorship, obstructing transportation in the city like Kasparov and Limonov did would have already earned them a trip to Siberia, instead of a five days' arrest. I think that the authorities have been too tolerant of the rioting."
Today's Dissenters' March was the simplest way to see if freedom of speech and freedom of gathering still exists in Putin's Russia. The crackdown says it all. No matter what you personally think of Garry Kasparov and his movement, a fact remains a fact: the March had been cracked down by the police, and what matters the most, I was only able to learn about it from a French [European] TV channel, EuroNews. The Kremlin channels dedicated their news reports to Malibu fires and other news of equal pertinence to today's Russia. Not a word had been said about the March and the crackdown."
Kasparov was escorted out [of the courtroom] by as many as eight SWAT fighters. [...] The authorities must really be scared of him if they decided to escort him like that. The system of power under Putin's rule must really hate him if they try that hard to turn him into a common criminal, stopping at nothing.
I heard officials in the corridor discussing the case: next time, they said, we need to try harder to arrest his personal guards - they will doubtlessly fight back, and then we can make it a criminal case.
That's one nice plan Putin seems to have: to provoke peaceful citizens, attack them, and whenever they try to respond or defend themselves, throw them in jail.
If they can do that to Kasparov, what will happen to common citizens like us? How is the new political system going to treat us when it reaches full power?"
Demonstrators witness arrest of Russian opposition leader Kasparov
By Team Observers with reporting by observer Allena Ponomaryova
Shortly after his speech at a protest rally in Moscow on Saturday, Nov. 24, former chess champion and Russian opposition figure Garry Kasparov was arrested and detained for five days. The next day, the judge declined Kasparov’s appeal and pronounced him guilty of "organising an illegal march against President Putin" and "declining to comply with the policeman's repeated demands to stop". Witnesses at the rally share their videos, pictures and reactions with The Observers.
Post your questions to Allena Ponomaryova on her profile page.
Contributors
Video of Kasparov’s speech at the dissenters' march
During the gathering of opposition parties, Garry Kasparov gave a speech denouncing President Vladimir Putin's policies. He told the crowd not to trust government propaganda and to use their own judgment about what's happening to the country. In the end, the crowd chanted: "For Russia without Putin!"
Excerpt:
The regime will not hesitate to take extreme measures. We already know that the authorities are not allergic to blood. We've seen proof of it at the Nord Ost site, we've seen it in Beslan [...]. They’ll stop at nothing. But we must remember: if our numbers grow large enough, this will make them afraid, because their fear of us is greater than the fear they can instil in our souls. It's no coincidence that they send SWAT teams from all over the country whenever there's a dissenters' march. They're so scared of us, they won't even allow a peaceful march, the only aim of which is to present our claims to the Central Elections Committee and to the government."Amateur video of the scene when Kasparov was arrested
This video was taken as Kasparov was escorted away by police. The on-screen titles read, "Kasparov's arrest" and "Special operation ‘Fortress’ - code-name for Kasparov's arrest". At the end of the video, the crowd is chanting: "Freedom to Kasparov!"
The video was originally posted on Aristocratia, a site that belongs to the opposition movement 'ARES'.
"This was the harshest arrest I’ve seen yet."
This eyewitness account and pictures come from a demonstrator.
Kasparov and (Eduard) Limonov (the leader of National Bolshevik party) were pushed against the wall by several helmeted fighters. A second before that, one of the officers next to me commanded: "Arrest them!" And the arrest began - a group dressed in civilian clothes and another comprising "spacemen" (police in helmets - ed.) formed a tight square around the leaders and walked them through the crowd, pushing aside the photographers who tried to take pictures of the scene. This was the harshest arrest I've seen, yet."
“I think that the authorities have been too tolerant to the rioting.”
This blogger has compiled a list of 'good and bad things' about Putin's rule. Kasparov's arrest falls under the 'good things' category:
They say that "the bloodthirsty KGB has installed a dictatorship in the country". Come on, it's ridiculous! If there was a dictatorship, obstructing transportation in the city like Kasparov and Limonov did would have already earned them a trip to Siberia, instead of a five days' arrest. I think that the authorities have been too tolerant of the rioting."“I was only able to learn about it from a French [European] television channel, Euronews.”
Today's Dissenters' March was the simplest way to see if freedom of speech and freedom of gathering still exists in Putin's Russia. The crackdown says it all. No matter what you personally think of Garry Kasparov and his movement, a fact remains a fact: the March had been cracked down by the police, and what matters the most, I was only able to learn about it from a French [European] TV channel, EuroNews. The Kremlin channels dedicated their news reports to Malibu fires and other news of equal pertinence to today's Russia. Not a word had been said about the March and the crackdown.""If they can do that to Kasparov, what will happen to common citizens like us?"
The author of this blog is the Murmansk-based leader of the OGF (United Citizens Front). She was at the court when Kasparov was sentenced to five days’ imprisonment.
Kasparov was escorted out [of the courtroom] by as many as eight SWAT fighters. [...] The authorities must really be scared of him if they decided to escort him like that. The system of power under Putin's rule must really hate him if they try that hard to turn him into a common criminal, stopping at nothing.
I heard officials in the corridor discussing the case: next time, they said, we need to try harder to arrest his personal guards - they will doubtlessly fight back, and then we can make it a criminal case.
That's one nice plan Putin seems to have: to provoke peaceful citizens, attack them, and whenever they try to respond or defend themselves, throw them in jail.
If they can do that to Kasparov, what will happen to common citizens like us? How is the new political system going to treat us when it reaches full power?"
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