| Anchor: The YABLOKO party is rallying against
Vladimir Putin's electoral initiatives. Protesters have gathered near the
entrance of the Prosecutor-General's Office in Moscow. Yevgeniya Ten reports
from the scene by phone.
Correspondent: The rally is already over. Over 30 protesters
have taken part in it. They include not only the YABLOKO party, but also
representatives of other movements who decided to join in - the Democratic
Union, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the Union of Right-Wing
Forces and some human rights activists. The number of journalists was
about the same as the number of protesters. Some passers-by also joined
the meeting.
The rally drew the Prosecutor-General's Office's attention to the fact
that
the President has proposed to replace the election of regional heads with
nominations, which means he proposes to violate the constitution.
Valeriya Novodvorskaya (leader fo the Democratic Union) , who took part
in
the
rally, said that should Putin's proposals be implemented, Russia will
cease
to be a federation and become a unitary state.
Deputy Chairman of YABLOKO Sergei
Mitrokhin, who headed the Yabloko representation at the rally, said
this is a head-on power takeover and Russian citizens are being deprived
of their right to vote. The Federation Council and Prosecutor-General's
Office should prevent this, he said.
Protesters held up placards saying Putin is a usurper with the president's
portrait with Hitler's haircut and moustache drawn on. At the end of the
rally, protesters threw dozens of paper planes with excerpts from the
constitution printed on them into the Prosecutor-General's Office's yard.
They glued leaflets with similar content to the outer side of the railings.
Later, when the crowd had dispersed, policemen came out here, picked up
several leaflets and took them back into the building.
Anchor: Did everything go peacefully? No conflicts with
the police?
Correspondent: There weren't any conflicts with the
police primarily because the rally had been sanctioned. Although the authorities
sanctioned the rally under another subject. The change of subject by the
protesters was unauthorized.
Anchor: I will add that the Union of Right-Wing Forces did
not join the rally. It said it will hold its own rally against the same
initiatives on a different day.
Based on the BBC monitoring
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