Vol. 81/No. 14      April 10, 2017

 

Protests target corrupt rule in Russia, Belarus

 
Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in up to 100 cities and towns across Russia March 26 demanding the resignation of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. The protests — most of which were banned by the government — took place after millions viewed a YouTube documentary exposing Medvedev’s lavish property portfolio, worth many times what he can afford on his government salary.

His estate is larger than the entire Vatican, complete with a vineyard.

In Moscow, a large police mobilization arrested 933 people at the protest of over 10,000. Hundreds of young people whistled and chanted as the cops made arrests, shouting “defenders of thieves” and “you can’t arrest us all.”

“I’m not scared,” said activist Oleg Stepanov, the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group in Ukraine reported. “If we don’t change anything then there is no future.”

Anti-government demonstrations of this magnitude have not occurred since 2011-12, when thousands protested the re-election of Vladimir Putin as president. The geographical spread and striking youthfulness of many of the participants caught Moscow off guard.

“Unlike the largely middle-class protests in 2011, Sunday’s rallies included many less well-off citizens, angry over falling living standards after several years of economic stagnation,” the Washington Post said.

The protests took place in better off cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg as well as Vladivostok, Kaliningrad, Makhachkala in Dagestan, Krasnodar and others large and small.

The actions in Russia took place in the context of a sober outlook for the Russian economy, dependent on oil exports whose price has fallen. There have been numerous strikes across the country by workers who are not getting paid.

The Kremlin denounced the protests as a “provocation,” praising the “absolutely top professionalism by the police” and claimed protesters were offered “financial rewards” to participate.

Alexei Navalny, a long-standing opponent of Putin, who called the demonstrations, produced the YouTube video. In retaliation, the cops busted into his Anti-Corruption Foundation office, detaining staff members and seizing computers. Navalny was arrested at the Moscow demonstration and sentenced to 15 days in jail on charges of resisting arrest.

Navalny has announced his intention to run in next year’s presidential election and has demanded that Putin allow him to be on the ballot.

The mass arrests in Russia took place the day after 600 protesters were arrested in Minsk, the capital of neighboring Belarus, where thousands demonstrated against the dictatorial regime of Alexander Lukashenko, who has held power for over two decades.

Demonstrators took advantage of the Freedom Day holiday that celebrates the founding of the Belarusian Peoples Republic in 1918 to organize protests in five cities, chanting “Lukashenko, we’re tired of you” and “No to dictatorship.”

Demonstrations by thousands protesting the regime have been taking place for over a month, spurred by declining living standards workers face as the economy of Belarus has been in recession for over two years. They were sparked by the new so called social parasite tax imposed by the regime on those who work for less than half a year.  
 
 
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