CIVIL SOCIETY SPEAKS OUT OVER OTHER RUSSIA ARRESTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MOSCOW 005542

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/27/2017
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR KDEM SOCI RS
SUBJECT: CIVIL SOCIETY SPEAKS OUT OVER OTHER RUSSIA ARRESTS

REF: MOSCOW 5528

Classified By: Pol M/C Alice Wells. Reasons: 1.4 (b,d).

Summary
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1. (C) Liberal politicians and human rights activists
praised the President's November 26 criticism of the Russian
government's detention of opposition protesters. In response
to the Ambassador, Acting FM Denisov described the GOR
reaction as "unfortunate" but argued that Other Russian
leader Garry Kasparov had courted arrest, with FM Lavrov
characterizing the activists as provocateurs. Kasparov
remains in detention (and has not "disappeared") along with
10-12 other demonstrators. Several civil society activists
were skeptical of Other Russia motives, terming the GOR
response "mild," but decried the excessive restrictions
placed on demonstrators. One editor attributed the crackdown
to electoral unease, with opponents of the government
scape-goated as a "fifth-column." Other Russia's repudiation
of official ground rules and highlighting of artificial GOR
restrictions on demonstrations has succeeded in raising its
profile, if not its appeal to the broader Russian public.
End summary.

Liberals Welcome President's Statement
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2. (C) Human rights activists and leading liberals welcomed
the President's statement in support of the opposition's
right to demonstrate peacefully. Moscow Helsinki Group
Chairwoman Lyudmila Alekseeva told us it sent a welcome
message to Russia's democrats and reinforced to the Russian
leadership that the international community was paying
attention. While acknowledging that Putin and his inner
circle would rebuff U.S. criticism, independent Duma Deputy
Vladimir Ryzhkov argued that it was important for there to be
independent assessments of the political evolution underway
in Russia. "Nezavisimaya Gazeta" editor Konstantin Remchukov
agreed, arguing that when the U.S. and Europe were united, it
was more difficult for Russia to argue that GDP mattered more
than standards, values, and morals in determining modernity.
Stanislav Dmitrievskiy, one of the organizers of the
unsanctioned march in Nizhniy Novgorod on November 24,
expressed his appreciation for President Bush's statement,
saying it showed "a great support for law and human rights"
in Russia.

Russian Government Reaction to President's Statement
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3. (C) On November 26, the Ambassador raised strong
concerns with acting Foreign Minister Denisov over the
authorities' measures to prevent Other Russia marches in
Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Nizhniy Novgorod, and protested
the accusations carried in a documentary film on GOR-owned
television November 25 alleging U.S. plans to foment an
orange revolution in Russia. Denisov agreed that the
overreaction to the Other Russia rallies was "unfortunate,"
but was caustic about Kasparov,s strategy of inciting a
police response, noting that "he got exactly what he wanted."
Denisov noted the dilemma facing authorities when protesters
deliberately chose to break the law, but returned to his
original assessment that the weekend's proceedings did not
reflect well on Russia. Denisov said that he had not seen
the documentary, which he couched in terms of an "overheated"
political environment in the lead-up to the December 2
elections, but said he understood the Ambassador's point that
the U.S. was scrupulous about adhering to Russian and U.S.
laws in the distribution of assistance.


4. (SBU) In Washington, Foreign Minister Lavrov denied to
Russian journalists November 27 that law enforcement had
exceeded its authority, and termed Other Russia's behavior a
provocation. "Everyone knows that in any democratic country
there are laws, and those laws must be obeyed," Lavrov said.
According to Ministry of Internal Affairs First Deputy
Aleksandr Chekalin, Other Russia's St. Petersburg meeting had
been financed from abroad. Chekalin argued that the
demonstrators were intent on confrontation with the
authorities.

Kasparov and Other Participants Remain in Custody
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5. (SBU) Kasparov remains in jail after his arrest and
conviction on November 24 (reftel). On November 26 a local
court upheld his five-day jail sentence. Kasparov
spokeswoman Marina Litvinovich told reporters that he will be
released from jail at the Moscow City police headquarters on
the evening of November 29. Kasparov's mother confirmed to

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us that -- contrary to media reports -- Kasparov has not
"disappeared," but remains at the Ministry of Internal
Affairs detention facility and received a care package from
home today. The local English-language Moscow Times reported
that a court spokeswoman said that legal proceedings were
initiated against about fifty Other Russia activists
suspected of disturbing the peace during Saturday's
unsanctioned march, but Litvinovich told us that there are
10-12 Other Russia activists in jail -- including Aleksandr
Averin, press secretary for Eduard Limonov's banned National
Bolshevik Party; Oleg Kovlovskiy, head of the youth group
Oborona; and five of Kasparov's body guards who, like
Kasparov, are serving four to five day jail sentences.
Litvinovich said that Kasparov had no access to his lawyer,
except just before his November 24 trial and November 26
appeal. "For Human Rights" NGO President Lev Ponomarev and
Moscow Helsinki Group Chairwoman Lyudmila Alekseeva sent a
letter requesting the intervention of Genri Reznik, President
of the Moscow Lawyers' Chamber.


6. (SBU) Media reports have walked back other allegations of
mistreatment of detainees, with Union of Right Forces Deputy
Leonid Gozman,s arm now reported to be sore, rather than
broken, in the wake of his St. Petersburg detention. (Staff
at Gozman's office told us November 26 that Gozman had seen a
doctor about his arm, but it was not broken.)


7. (C) Alekseeva was not disturbed by the speed with which
Kasparov was sentenced, arguing that it was normal in cases
where many individuals had been detained, but expressed
strong concern over the government's alleged illegal
detention of nine National Bolshevik members over the
weekend, all of whom were subsequently sentenced to five days
as well. The authorities, she charged, had used detention to
prevent the National Bolsheviks from traveling to St.
Petersburg for the Sunday rally. Alekseeva told us that one
Other Russia participant, from a "radical homosexual" party,
had been beaten brazenly by the police in the presence of
other witnesses.


8. (SBU) Stanislav Dmitrievskiy, one of the organizers of
the unsanctioned march in Nizhniy Novgorod on November 24,
told us November 27 that he was fined 2,000 rubles (about USD
80). According to Dmitrievskiy, eight others booked at the
same police station were also fined. He said he has
protested his treatment -- he was forced to sit on the muddy
floor of a bus -- and had seen a doctor for treatment of an
injury to his head. He explained that the organizers of the
unsanctioned march in Nizhniy Novgorod rejected the alternate
site proposed by the local government on principle, since
other pro-Kremlin organizations had been able to hold their
rallies where they wanted, and there was no legal basis for
denying them use of Nizhniy's Gorkiy Square.

Civil Society Skeptical About Other Russia Motives
-------------- --------------


9. (C) Independent Duma member and outspoken Kremlin critic
Vladimir Ryzhkov told us that Kasparov courted arrest after
the November 24 Other Russia demonstration by purposefully
violating the city order authorizing a stationary rally and
leading a group of demonstrators into street traffic.
Ryzhkov, who participated in the rally but declined to join
the unsanctioned march to the Central Election Commission
headquarters, said police behavior at Other Russia,s
sanctioned rally was "mild" compared to its April gathering,
which had been shut down by an overwhelming police presence
and heavy-handed tactics. He termed Kasparov,s punishment
of five days, detention as "nothing," and much less than
other two-time violators of the administrative code could
reasonably expect. Ryzhkov noted that the politics of
opposition solidarity meant that he would not render his
opinion about Kasparov publicly; moreover, he would renew his
appeal to visit Kasparov in detention, which Duma members are
accorded but which, to date, has been rebuffed twice by
"higher authorities." (Following his meeting with us,
Ryzhkov was again denied access to Kasparov.)


10. (C) Alekseeva likewise classified police reaction to
the Saturday event as mild, while decrying the general
atmosphere of official "hysteria" that led to overreactions
and human rights violations throughout the country.
Alekseeva agreed that there was a cat and mouse game between
Other Russia and the authorities, but insisted that the
city's decision to limit Other Russia to a demonstration was
itself a violation of democratic principles. Alekseeva, who
was not at the rally, maintained that Kasparov and his
followers were peacefully walking towards the Central
Election Commission when forcefully detained by militia, with
the only violation being Yabloko youth leader Ilya Yashin's
dancing on the roof of a privately owned vehicle (which has
since earned him a lawsuit by the owner).

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11. (C) Memorial's Grigoriy Shvedov did not give much weight
to the protests or to the arrests. "Overall, this is a very
positive development for Kasparov: The greatest criticism of
him was his lack of political experience. Now, with a little
time in jail, he has authentic Russian political experience.
He has now risen to Limonov's level." Shvedov was similarly
sarcastic about Other Russia as a whole, saying that they,
like Zhirinovskiy's Liberal Democratic Party, it was a
sideshow for the political class. Ponomarev also noted that
the November 24 march was more peaceful than previous ones
and that this time the militia did not touch the pensioners
who participated in it.

Elections Drive Police Overreaction
--------------


12. (C) Remchukov maintained that the government's
hyper-sensitivity to Other Russia was a result of two
factors: the first, an exaggerated fear of the opposition's
ability to undermine Putin's popularity; the second, the need
to portray opponents of the Russian President as the fifth
column of the West. The golden rule of politics and
journalism in Russia, he noted, was Putin's untouchability.
Putin's popularity floated at above 80 percent, Remchukov
argued, because there was no daily drip of information about
his policy mistakes, his larger-than-government-salary
lifestyle, and the foibles of his family, whereas the
peccadilloes of the opposition were dissected at length
(sometimes with official prodding and financing). This
"asymmetrical knowledge" was Putin's most effective tool in
winning the "referendum" that the December Duma elections
have turned into. Remchukov now believes that the difficulty
in transferring Putin's personal popularity to the largely
unloved ruling party has increased the incentive to find an
"enemy at the gate" with which to rally the electorate.
Since oligarchs have already been tamed, a new enemy had to
be manufactured, with the West -- and, specifically, the U.S.
-- an old standby. Other Russia and human rights activists,
with their Western ties and grants, were a convenient "fifth
column." As Alekseeva told us separately: "I forget whether
I am a British or an American spy."

Comment
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13. (C) Acting Foreign Minister Denisov's reaction to the
Ambassador's protest in some ways dovetails with that of
Kasparov's defenders: Other Russia was intent on
confrontation, and got what it was looking for. Other
Russia, of course, is intent on demonstrating that
opportunities for freedom of expression have shrunk, and on
testing the limits of what was an emerging tacit agreement:
the authorities would allow Other Russia demonstrations, but
on their own terms. That agreement had emerged, painfully,
after Other Russia's first demonstrations had been forcibly
broken up by the police. After international and domestic
outcry, many local authorities had allowed the meetings, and
the Other Russia turnout had been underwhelming. In the
series of demonstrations this weekend, it appeared that Other
Russia in St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Nizhniy Novgorod,
fueled by members of SPS whose party has been harassed
throughout the election campaign, decided to test the
proposition that the authorities can place limits on freedom
of expression. Other Russia has succeeded in raising its
profile, if not its appeal to the broader public.
BURNS