Kasparov Arrested At Rally Against Putin

By Jason Green
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MOSCOW, Russia – Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov was arrested at an Anti-Kremlin rally on Saturday.  Along with several thousand other protesters, Kasparov appeared in Moscow to speak out against what many Russians believe will be a ‘rigged’ parliamentary election next week. 

Kasparov has been one of Putin’s fiercest critics and he continues to use his celebrity status as a platform to speak out against the Kremlin.

Protesters are concerned that Russians will have no choice but to vote for supporters of Putin’s United Russia party, which is already heavily favored in the polls to win a variety of positions in next week’s election.  Although Putin will be forced to give up the presidency next year as the Russian constitution bars him from serving a third consecutive term, many Russians are irate that Putin may be guaranteeing himself a seat in the next parliament by standing as a parliamentary candidate in next week’s election. 

Protestors also expressed concern about censorship and restrictions on freedom of the press.  Tatiana Manukova agreed to speak with Reuters at the rally and commented that “Censorship is all around us and our freedoms have decreased.  Putin’s way will not mean a better future.”  Alexei Alexeyev also appeared at the rally and told reporters, “In a free country you can express your opinions but in Russia you can’t.  The police are very aggressive and I fear them.”   

The United States and other western powers have taken an interest in Russia’s recent efforts to control public access to information in the last several months.  Of particular interest has been the Kremlin’s grip on television news sources.   

Violence erupted near the end of the rally when protestors attempted to break through police lines.  Riot police stopped the surge and made numerous arrests. 

Kasparov will be held for five days for resisting arrest and organizing an unauthorized protest. 

For more information, please see:

BBC – Garry Kasparov jailed over rally – 24 November 2007

CNN (AP) – Kasparov held at Anti-Kremlin rally – 24 November 2007

Yahoo (Reuters) – Russian police block anti-Putin march – 24 November 2007

Comments

[Anton]

Kasparov is considered to be a fagot by most Russians. One of the reasons is that he does not say anything new that we don't know. Anyone he ever say he speak sees that he is mad.

"Violence erupted near the end of the rally when protestors attempted to break through police lines."
This means that the protesters had their right to speak out -- so Russia does have democracy under Putin. (Why is it strange that people get arrested for breaking trough police lines -- it's against the law.)