Russians Protest Jailing of Activist

What happened in Moscow on Thursday would have been unthinkable just a few weeks ago.

There was a protest rally in the Russian capital.

Now that by itself would have been unusual, but Thursday’s demonstration went off without any arrests.

The demonstrators protested at Pushkin square against the detention of activist Sergei Udaltsov.

Anchor Marco Werman talks to The World’s Jessica Golloher to get more details.

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Marco Werman: What happened today in Moscow would have been unthinkable just a few weeks ago. There was a protest rally in the Russian capital. Now, that by itself would have been unusual, but today’s demonstration went off without any arrests. It’s been a heady few weeks in Russia. Here’s what it’s been like in Moscow since Russian parliamentary elections on December 4: There was a mass demonstration on the 10th; an even larger rally was held last Saturday; then today, hundreds of people protested the jailing of a Russian activist. Reporter Jessica Golloher is in Moscow. So, tell me about these protesters today in Pushkin Square. They turned out to demonstrate the arrest of a left-wing activist named Sergei Udaltsov. Who is he?

Jessica Golloher: He is basically a left-wing activist here in Moscow and he’s been jailed several times for protesting against the Kremlin. He was arrested back on December 4, after we held parliamentary elections here in Russia and given a jail sentence. And then, on Sunday that jail sentence was extended. Udaltsov has basically been on a hunger strike. He is not doing well and his supporters think it’s ridiculous that he’s actually being held on an extended jail sentence and they want him freed.

Werman: Now Jessica, a lot of reporters, including ourselves, have said a month ago that such protests like today’s would have been unthinkable and, as you say, that seemed to change on December 4 with these charges of fraud and parliamentary elections. Putin’s own United Russia party was charged with fraud in their victories. Was that really all it took to get Russians in the streets?

Golloher: Really, what happened is people are tired. They want their voice to be heard. Vladimir Putin has basically been ruling the country, even though President Dmitry Medvedev is obviously President for the past 12 years. There was, allegedly, as far as the protesters are concerned, widespread ballot stuffing and vote rigging here in Russia and they’ve had enough. It’s 12 years of enough as far as they are concerned.

Werman: So, there’s a big fed-up factor. I’m wondering too, what about the fear of demonstrating prior to December 4? Were people worried about going into the streets and what are the risks today for Russians going into the streets to protest?

Golloher: You know, as journalists we used to always laugh because on the 31st of every month the opposition would gather to basically demonstrate for the right to protest on the 31st of every month which is basically guaranteed by Russia’s constitution. The way that the authorities would get around that is they would not sanction those protests. You have to ask for permission to demonstrate. So you would see these opposition leaders, about a handful of them, standing around, waving signs or chanting and hundreds of riot police that would slam down on them very forcefully, beat them up and also attack journalists. So there was a lot of fear of demonstrations. I think after the first major rally, people started to think, “Hey, we could actually do this.” People really thought that there were going to be mass arrests and a lot of violence, but after the last demonstration last weekend, people feel comfortable. You know, I think that’s also because the Kremlin has allowed the sanction protest – the two big sanction protests of last week and the weekend before.

Werman: Reporter Jessica Golloher in Moscow.

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