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U.S. Concerned about Marchers
White House spokesman Dana Perino stated on Monday that the Bush administration is “deeply disturbed” by the way the Marches of Those Who Disagree were broken up in Moscow and St. Petersburg, using “excessive force.”
Earlier, official State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said that "People need to be able to freely express their opinion. They need to be able to peacefully protest. They need to be able to fully participate in elections. That is at the heart of any democratic system. And the fact that there's an apparent attempt by the security services to stifle that freedom on expression, to stifle the ability of these opposition political parties to fully participate in that political process, is disturbing.” He added that the United States would be following the situation in Russia “very closely.”
About 400 people total were taken into custody during the events in Moscow and St. Petersburg on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Several marchers and passersby were injured. Police and special forces troops outnumbered marchers by several times at both locations.
www.kommersant.com
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