| 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 citizens has been transformed into bureaucratic machinery
suppressing society. This machinery has already ruined the dissenting
mass media at federal level, the independent parliament and free elections.
Now it seeks to do away with the last obstacle in its way: civil society.
An attempt to deprive the citizens of Russia of the freedom of assembly
which enables them 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.
See also:
Freedom
of Assembly
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