Thousands
have taken to the streets of Moscow in protest against the rule of Vladimir
Putin. The rally is seen as a test of the opposition's ability to challenge the
Russian president.
The
demonstrators waved nationalist flags, some carried banners calling for early
elections or declaring Putin a "parasite", while others were there to
demand the early release of the jailed members of the punk band Pussy Riot.
The
sanctioned rally took place in Sakharov Square in central Moscow, while smaller
demonstrations were reported in St Petersburg, Kaliningrad, and the central
Siberian city of Yekaterinburg. Estimates of crowd numbers in Moscow have
varied from 10,000 to over 100,000,
One of
Russia's opposition leaders, Sergei Udaltsov, said the "March of
Millions" protest is calling for fair elections, social and political
reforms, and for critics of the government to have the ability to use state
television to put their case forward.
Russia's
anti-Putin opposition is split between widely varying political ideologies -
nationalists, liberals, and the extreme left. The protest organizers are hoping
that the movement, now nine months old, is still able to continue with the same
momentum four months after Putin began a six-year term as president.
It began in
response to allegations of electoral fraud, and Putin's 12-year so-called grip
on power, but has been criticized by some as having no common message other
than being opposed to Putin.
Mikhail
Prokhorov, a Russian billionaire tycoon who placed third in the March presidential
elections, said the opposition had no coherent program and therefore he would
not be taking part in the protest. Prokhorov had participated in previous
demonstrations.
Saturday's
protesters have been dismissed by the Kremlin as a minority that does not
represent or have the support of Russia.
The
anti-government protest is the first major demonstration in three months, and
comes a day after Russia's parliament expelled Gennady Gudkov, an opposition
politician, and took away his immunity from criminal prosecution.
It had been
alleged Gudkov illegally continued business activities while holding a mandate
in the assembly, but the opposition says his expulsion is part of Putin
campaign to remove government critics from power.
jr/ccp (AFP, Reuters, dpa)
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