May God help them.. I think they will need it.
For educational purposes:
"They had gathered to oppose the 'fake vote organized by the
authorities' that saw Vladimir Putin's handpicked successor, Dmitry
Medvedev, win in a landslide.
By Megan K. Stack and Sergei L. Loiko, Los Angeles Times Staff
Writers
March 3, 2008
MOSCOW -- Protesters who took to the streets of the Russian capital
today to demonstrate against this weekend's presidential election were
roughed up and carted off in buses by throngs of riot police.
More than 100 activists were detained by police as they tried to
gather in central Moscow, opposition leaders said.
The protests were planned as a rare show of opposition to the powerful
Kremlin political machine that successfully passed the presidency from
former KGB agent Vladimir V. Putin to his protege and favored
successor, Dmitry Medvedev.
As expected, Russian voters handed Medvedev a landslide victory Sunday
in a race that many critics said was over before it began. From the
moment Putin tapped Medvedev as his successor, images of the
diminutive lawyer saturated state-run media while his lesser-known
opponents scrapped for exposure.
"I came here to protect the honor of my country, which was humiliated
by this fake vote organized by the authorities," said Svetlana
Torskaya, a 68-year-old architect who came out into the snow to
demonstrate against the Kremlin. "They stole the real elections from
us and made us take part in a show."
European election monitors today also leveled mixed criticism against
the balloting, pointing to problems with voter registration and
complaining of unequal access to media. The election was not free, the
monitors concluded, but the results still reflected the will of the
Russian people.
"We think there is not freedom in this election," said Andreas Gross,
head of the monitoring team from the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe. The election "amounted, in effect, to a vote of
confidence in the in***bent president," he told re****ters.
Medvedev gathered a little more than 70% of the votes, far
outdistancing his three opponents, and in his first public statements
carefully pledged to continue Putin's policies. The new president will
start work in the Kremlin in May, and nobody in Russia really knows
how the power structure will shape up in the coming months.
Putin, who was prevented by the Russian Constitution from seeking a
third term in office, has said he will serve as prime minister under
Medvedev. Critics fear he will continue to run the country, using the
new president as a partner or, at worst, a puppet.
Russia's beleaguered opposition had been denied permission to gather
at Turgenevskaya Square, in the heart of the capital. But leaders went
ahead and called for today's march to go forward.
Protesters arrived by subway to find the square sealed off by soldiers
with metal ****elds and iron helmets. Riot police with clubs in hand
roamed the square in search of possible dissenters. They targeted
young men, grabbing them by their hands and legs and dragging them off
to police buses.
One by one, the activists made their small shows of protest. One young
man pulled a flare from his pocket and lit it. "We need a different
Russia!" he yelled. Police beat him to the ground and dragged him
away.
Another demonstrator unfurled a banned Bolshevik Party flag over his
head. Others linked arms and repeated the chant, "We need a different
Russia!" They too were hauled off to the bus.
Nearby, human rights activist Lev Ponomaryov stood talking with
re****ters.
"These elections took place the way elections are held in totalitarian
regimes," said Ponomaryov, leader of the For Human Rights
organization.
A few minutes later, he had to stop talking. The riot police were
coming for him too. They ferried him off through the wet snow to the
waiting bus.
megan.stack@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
"
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-russia4mar04,0,2650571.story
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