Authorities in Nizhny Novgorod suppressed the unsanctioned March of the Discontented rally after the organizers called on people to gather in the central square.
Photo: ITAR-TASS
|
 |
US Lambastes Russia’s Crackdown on Protest Rallies
The U.S. Department of State is concerned about the suppression of a major protest rally in Nizhny Novgorod. The Russian move against protesters in Nizhny Novgorod on Saturday “raises serious concerns about Russians’ ability to exercise their rights to assembly, free speech and peaceful protest,” a State Department briefer said on Monday.
Hundreds of opposition activists were detained, and some of them beaten with truncheons, U.S State Department spokesman Tom Casey said in a statement.
U.S. authorities noted that the incident in Nizhny Novgorod was the third one in the last four months after the dispersal of protest rallies in St. Petersburg and Moscow. The United States decried “Russian government heavy-handedness” against people trying to exercise democratic rights.
Authorities in Nizhny Novgorod suppressed the unsanctioned March of the Discontented rally after the organizers called on people to gather in the central square.
1,000 riot police officers in full gear were called to the central square, according to unofficial sources. Police completely cordoned off the area by noon, a rally participant reported. Up to 200 demonstrators were taken into custody, according to a Chechen human rights activist. Several Russian and foreign journalist were also detained.
Another March of the Discontented took place in Moscow on December 16 last year and in St. Petersburg on March 3.
www.kommersant.com
|
|
|
