"OTHER RUSSIA'S" MOSCOW DEMONSTRATION STOPPED BY POLICE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MOSCOW 001717

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/16/2017
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KDRM SOCI RS
SUBJECT: "OTHER RUSSIA'S" MOSCOW DEMONSTRATION STOPPED BY
POLICE


Classified By: Ambassador William J. Burns. Reason: 1.4 (d).

--------------
Summary
--------------


1. (C) As expected, the April 14 anti-government "Other
Russia" demonstration, estimated to number several hundred,
at the center city Pushkin Square was stopped in its tracks
by as many as nine thousand uniformed law enforcement
officials. Member of the Other Russia leadership Garry
Kasparov and some of his colleagues were detained, fined, and
released within several hours. The media estimate that many
additional would-be participants or bystanders were briefly
detained as well, and it appears that more than a dozen
people, including journalists, were struck by police. Those
who made it to the Other Russia demonstration licensed by the
Moscow city authorities for Turgenev Square were addressed by
ex-Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and political activist
Irina Khakamada before dispersing. In the wake of the
thwarted meeting, GOR Human Rights Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin
criticized law enforcement officials for having exceeded
their authority, and stated his readiness to receive
complaints from citizens and, if the evidence is sufficient,
file criminal charges and testify during court proceedings.
Near-simultaneous demonstrations of the pro-Kremlin youth
group "Young Guard," the Movement Against Illegal
Immigration, the Union of Right Forces, and the Communist
Party were held at different locations around the city on
April 14 without incident. A licensed April 15 Other Russia
demonstration in St. Petersburg proceeded peacefully, but was
marred by police violence when some participants attempted to
march closer to the city center (septel). End summary.

--------------
Other Russia Stopped
--------------


2. (C) As expected, the anti-government Other Russia's
demonstration at Pushkin Square in central Moscow was stopped
in its tracks April 14 by a very large number of uniformed
Internal Affairs troops, special forces contingents bussed in
from the regions, and FSB agents. The troops had cordoned
off a several block area around the square well before the
1200 start time while, inside the cordon, 50 - 75 members of
the pro-Kremlin Young Guard held their licensed
demonstration. Attempts by Other Russia adherents to shout
down the Young Guard meeting were interpreted by the police
as an attempt to stage an illegal demonstration and they
moved aggressively to detain those protesting. During this
stage of Other Russia's efforts, Embassy saw more than one
dozen detained, but witnessed no one being beaten. (Media
reports about the number of people beaten vary widely. Human
Rights Watch alleges in its statement that 54 demonstrators
were treated at a downtown clinic. Embassy has contacted the
clinic, but has been unable to get confirmation of that
number.) The large number of police made it difficult to
gauge the number of Other Russia supporters present, but we
estimate no more than several hundred.


3. (C) Member of the Other Russia leadership Garry Kasparov
and confederates Ilya Yashin (Yabloko Youth),Masha Gaydar
(political activist),Stas Dmitrievskiy (Russian-Chechen
Friendship Society) were not able to get to Pushkin Square.
They were detained as the rally was scheduled to begin and
taken to a district police station, where they were booked
for violating the administrative code and later released. In
an April 16 conversation, Kasparov told Embassy that he was
planning to appeal his detention. Kasparov alleged that the
judge in his case did not allow his lawyers to provide proper
defense. Estimates of the number detained during the day's
events range from 130 - 250, and even higher. Arriving at an
exact figure is impossible, as some attempting to reach the
site of the banned demonstration may have been stopped for
identification checks, but not been formally booked.


4. (C) Some of the Other Russia protesters succeeded in
either marching or otherwise getting to Turgenev Square, one
of the alternate sites proposed by the city when it ruled
that Young Guard had informed it first of its intention to
hold a meeting on Pushkin Square. Yelena Dikun, Press
Secretary for ex-Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, told us

SIPDIS
April 16 that she had seen several marchers beaten by special
forces troops as they attempted to march. Kasyanov, she
said, was not beaten or detained, and with political activist
Irina Khakamada, briefly addressed the approximately 200
persons who assembled at Turgenev Square.


5. (C) Following the Turgenev Square meeting, some
demonstrators moved to the police station where Kasparov and
others were being held. The media allege that some of their

MOSCOW 00001717 002 OF 003


number were beaten by police, who were attempting to disperse
the crowd.


6. (C) Eduard Limonov, whose National Bolshevik Party
participated in the April 14 events, was rumored to have been
detained, but now appears to have simply hidden after an
attempt was made to detain him. (Limonov was detained in St.
Petesburg on April 15, however.) His National Bolsheviks,
whose hammer-and-sickle flags are a feature of Other Russia
gatherings, where not in evidence on April 14. Kasparov
alleged to us that many of them had been taken into detention
before the rally began, and that the Bolsheviks themselves in
an effort not to be targeted by the police, had decided not
to carry flags.

--------------
Reaction
--------------


7. (SBU) The April 14 Moscow events have sparked criticism in
equal measure of the Moscow city authorities and of Other
Russia for going forward with the banned march. GOR Human
Rights Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin, commenting on events both in
Moscow and St. Petersburg, criticized law enforcement
officials for exceeding their authority, and reminded them
that Russian citizens have the constitutional right to
peaceful freedom of assembly. Lukin urged those mistreated
to file petitions with his office and promised to file
criminal charges against the police if the evidence warranted
it. He also promised to testify on citizens' behalf in
court. Lukin exhorted both the GOR and Other Russia
supporters to resist provocations, noting Russia's long
history of violent confrontation.


8. (SBU) Moscow City Council Chairman Vladimir Platonov
criticized Other Russia organizers for putting their
adherents at risk, but noted that the existence of an
opposition contributes to the resilience of the state. Duma
First Deputy Speaker Lyubov Sliska, on the other hand, was
categorically against Other Russia's use of young people to
further its political ends, while the Communist Party
criticized the authorities for acting "stupidly" in making
martyrs of the opposition.

--------------
Movement Against Illegal Immigration Meeting
--------------


9. (SBU) At its April 14 anti-government rally near the
Kremlin, Rodina Duma Deputy Dmitriy Rogozin, Movement Against
Illegal Immigration's Aleksandr Belov, and other speakers
lobbied for a Russia for Russians and a strong military to
protect Russia from outside threats. Speaking beneath a
banner proclaiming "For A Great Russia, Without Liberals,
Thieves, or Traitors," Rogozin and others criticized the
government for ignoring the needs of average Russians, and
complained about corruption, and the encroachment on human
rights. Several hundred police, including special forces
troops, ringed the estimated 500 - 700 participants. The
rally took place without incident.

--------------
Young Guard at Moscow University
--------------


10. (SBU) The pro-Kremlin Young Guard meeting at Moscow State
University failed to draw the advertised 15 thousand
supporters for its March of Agreement. (Embassy estimates
the number of participants at about eight thousand.) The
demonstration's theme was "Now is the Time to Choose," and it
had the feel of a very large block party. Speakers from
Young Guard regional headquarters in Moscow, St. Petersburg,
Vladivostok, and Krasnoyarsk proclaimed support for the
current administration, condemned Other Russia adherents as
traitors, and repeatedly criticized the USG for meddling in
Russia's internal affairs. Participants largely ignored the
speakers, preferring to chat with or text message friends.
The demonstration was ringed by uniformed law enforcement
officials. The rally occurred without incident. It took
place slightly later than the small Young Guard rally staged
at Pushkin Square in central Moscow.

--------------
SPS and KPRF Also Convene
--------------


11. (SBU) The political party Union of Right Forces (SPS) and
the Communist Party also staged brief rallies on April 14.
The SPS affair lasted about one-half hour and was attended by
300 - 400 persons, largely pensioners, according to our
German Embassy colleagues. SPS Chairman Nikita Belykh

MOSCOW 00001717 003 OF 003


briefly addressed the crowd. There were few police present.


12. (SBU) Not to be left out, the Communist Party (KPRF) also
got on the board with a brief meeting "in defense of the
Mausoleum," on Red Square. It sparsely attended meeting
reportedly attracted little attention.

--------------
Comment
--------------


13. (C) It appears that the authorities were prepared to
allow Other Russia to stage a meeting, but on their terms,
not on Kasparov's. In the tactical feinting that preceded
the April 14 march, it became clear that the city would
permit a meeting near central Moscow at a venue of its
choosing, or a march on the fringes of the city. When Other
Russia refused to accept the city's fiat, confrontation was
inevitable. Rhetoric at the Movement Against Illegal
Immigration's rally was also unapologetically
anti-government, although its speakers were careful not to
criticize President Putin by name, but its meeting was
allowed to go forward. Had it attempted to violate the terms
set for it by the city, however, it probably would have met
the same fate as United Russia's march.


14. (C) Special forces troops used excessive force in
breaking up the Other Russia event, and it is encouraging
that Lukin, who reportedly called the Mayor of Nizhniy
Novgorod during Other Russia's attempt to defy city
authorities there as well, has been so outspoken this time
around.


15. (C) It is not clear why the city authorities felt the
need to assemble such a large law enforcement contingent to
stop the small number of demonstrators that Other Russia has
to date been able to attract. Either they hope that the
deployment of overwhelming force will dispirit the
opposition, or they remain fearful of an Orange Revolution.
Either way, their efforts seem more likely to if anything
encourage further brinkmanship from those who are on record
as wanting to put an end to Putin's Russia.
BURNS