In Moscow in addition to YABLOKO the following organisations planned to participate in the action: the Moscow Helsinki Group, the Committee-2008, the Union of Right-Wing Forces (SPS), the movements "For Human Rights," "Common Action", the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers, Greenpeace of Russia, the Common Course group, the Association of Regional Human Rights Organisations, Trade Unions' Centre and Free Trade Unions of Russia, the GOLOS association (For the Protection of Voter Rights), as well as dozens of other public organisations and civil organisations.

Gathering by the Chistiye Prudi metro station, the column of demonstrators proceeded along Myasnitskaya street to Lubyanka square. No to a police state! Let us protect democracy! Respect the Constitution! Let’s stop the war in Chechnya! No to robber tax on flats! Secret services under civil control! Away with Basmanniy justice! Such slogans were held up by participants of the action. Approaching Lubyanka square, the participants shouted Democracy -yes! Freedom yes! Police state no! The slogan of the action meeting Civil Society Against a Police State was also written on the light blue balloons carried by the participants.

At Lubyanka square the participants of the action held a meeting. The speakers spoke from a tribune by the Solovetsky Stone the monument to political repressions.

Head of the Moscow Helsinki Group Ludmila Alexeeva spoke about a few demonstrations of Soviet dissidents. Now there are many more of us and we can freely come into the square. She called on participants in the action to speak against the attack of the authorities on our freedoms. I think that this meeting is the beginning of larger protests, added Alexeeva.

Only if there are many of us, the authorities will take us into account, said YABLOKO s leader Grigory Yavlinsky taking up the thesis. The meaning of what we are protecting now is our Constitution. What is our programme? Russia should have an independent court, independent parliament, civil control over secret services and really free politically significant mass media, so that we can elect the authorities at free elections and the state reflects the interests of all citizens rather than certain corporations, said Yavlinsky. YABLOKO’s leader also reminded the public that on this day, May 1, 2004, several countries, including the former Baltic republics of the USSR, had joined the European Union and said that Russia should also become a part of Europe. Our programme is freedom and justice, stressed Yavlinsky.

Irina Khakamada, former co-chair of the SPS and now head of the Free Russia party expressed her satisfaction that representatives of different parties gathered at the meeting. Head of the Solders Mothers Committee Valentina Melnikova reminded the public that war has been going on in Russia and the authorities were trying to forget about it. She called for an abolition of army conscription and announced the creation of a new party - the party of solders mothers. Head of the Memorial human rights centre Oleg Orlov while speaking about Chechnya insisted that the developments there marked a restoration of political repressions. Our obligation is to fight for stopping the war in Chechnya, said Orlov.

It is good that there are so many of us here, although I suspect that according to police data there will be only 200 people, Viktor Shenderovich joked at the start of his speech. He spoke on behalf of Committee-2008. He said that the living standards in Russia, citizens’ incomes and jobs depended on the level of democracy and freedom in the country. There are far more of us than those behind my back, said Shenderovich pointing to the FSB (former KGB) building, - simply they are better organised due to their origin. We are private people and they should become a pain in our neck to make us to gather together. It would appear that they have succeeded here.

Head of the ecological movement of Russia Ivan Blokov, Deputy Head of YABLOKO Sergei Mitrokhin, political scientist and a columnist Andrei Piontkovsky, leader of the Democratic Party of Russia Vladimir Podoprigora, well-known human rights activist, member of YABLOKO Valeri Borschov, member of the SPS and deputy of the Moscow City Duma Ivan Novitsky, member of the Federal Council of YABLOKO Evgeni Bunimovich, leader of the Democratic Union Valeria Novodvorskaya, member of the SPS and deputy of the Moscow City Duma Ludmila Stebenkova, representative of the Committee of Anti-War Action Anna Karetnikova, deputy of the Moscow City Duma and member of the SPS Dmitri Katayev, co-chair of the Republican Party of Russia Vladimir Lisenko and deputy of the Moscow City Duma and member of the YABLOKO party Vera Stepanenko also made speeches at the meeting.

The moderator of the meeting chairman of the For the Human Rights movement Lev Ponomaryov reminded the public that political prisoners had again emerged in Russia. He mentioned scientist Igor Sutyagin, ex-Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky, co-owner of YUKOS Platon Lebedev and barrister Mikhail Trepashkin.

The meeting also announced the beginning of a long-term campaign Civil Society Against a Police State. The participants voted for the following resolution of the meeting:

Democracy in Russia has been undergoing a crisis.

Civil rights and liberties have been steadily curbed by the authorities. The division of powers into the legislative, the executive and the judicial has been transformed into a sheer formality. The state which has to serve the interests of the citizens has been transformed into a bureaucratic machinery suppressing society. This machinery has already ruined the dissenting mass media of the federal level, the independent parliament and free elections. Now it is striving to do away with the last obstacle in its way: a civil society.

An attempt to deprive the citizens of Russia of the freedom of assembly which makes it possible to express their opinions is only the beginning of a new stage of the attack against our liberties. We are certain that such steps will be taken again.

In this situation the main form of interaction in the attack on the police state involves direct action. The more people are ready to stand for their rights and go on the streets and loudly proclaim their protest, the more difficult it will be for the bureaucrats to shut them up.

Experience demonstrates that the authorities are sensitive to the manifestation of public protest. However, it may revert to decisions that were abolished under the pressure of civil society.

We should not relax our vigilance! We shall start a long-term campaign Civil Society Against a Police State and we call on everybody who wants to remain free to join this campaign. We should not allow society to silently consent to a dictatorship.

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