Putin Opponents March in Moscow

Thousands of Russian anti-government protesters have taken part in a major rally in Moscow to demand fresh elections and a new president.

The protest, on a national holiday, came a day after police raided the homes of several prominent activists.

Damian McGuinness, who reports for the BBC, was at the rally. He tells anchor Lisa Mullins that the mood there was upbeat, though protesters feared being slapped with steep fines for their participation.

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Lisa Mullins: I’m Lisa Mullins, and this The World. Today, tens of thousands of Russians marched through the streets of Moscow. They weren’t celebrating Russian Day, even though today is the national holiday. The marchers were protesting Russian president, Vladimir Putin. In fact, this is the first big street protest again Putin since he began his third term as president recently. It was also the first demonstration since Putin signed a new bill that stiffens penalties for taking part in unauthorized rallies. Damian McGuinness reports with the BBC, he is in Moscow. I guess this was an authorized rally, Damian. Can you tell us what happened at the protest?

Damian McGuinness: Yes, it was, Lisa. But that doesn’t mean people weren’t worried about breaking the law, because these new, stringent laws you mentioned just now also have massive fines involved if these people, in the context of an authorized rally, do something which infringes on the law. For example, something that can be classed as damaging property, or something that means they strayed outside designated areas. So, that could be anything as simple as going down a wrong street. So, it’s not quite clear from the law how much the fines would be, but there were fears, certainly, in the crowd, because if they did something wrong, they could be fined up to ten thousand dollars. So that really does make people think, and it might have put some people off, but the protest movement hasn’t fizzle out, so now the Kremlin has to think of another tactic, and that tactic appears to be clamping down very heavily on the opposition leaders, namely these ten people whose homes were searched yesterday.

Mullins: Yeah, one of those people whose houses were searched is a woman who’s a TV anchor there, fairly prominent right now, but not known as a major part of the protest movement, until fairly recently. Tell us about her.

McGuinness: Yes, Kseniya Sobchack . She’s an interesting character, she started off as a bit of a party girl, and she was known in Moscow as sort of the Russian equivalent of Paris Hilton, very well-connected family, and she was very big on the party scene. She then became quite famous as a TV host and a chat-show host. And then, at the end of last year, she became more and more involved in the opposition movement. So, she is at the more glamorous end of the protest movement, if you like, but it has to be remembered that this opposition movement is very diverse, so it’s hard to even call it a movement, really. All it is is anyone who doesn’t like Vladimir Putin. So, you have quite extreme nationalists who might have some views which many Russians wouldn’t agree with. You also have Communists who really mourn the loss of the USSR, you have very Western-minded liberals, you have human rights activists…it’s a real hodgepodge.
And yes, Kseniya Sobchak is part of this, but the other leaders include Alexei Navalny who’s known as a blogger, you also have (Boris) Nemtsov who’s part of the old-school Parliamentary opposition. It’s all a real mix, and this, in a way, is a strength of the opposition movement, because it means they appeal to a lot of people, but it’s also one of the weaknesses, because, for most Russians, it’s just too diverse, it doesn’t actually offer an alternative, because none of these various elements would ever be able to agree on any concrete policy at all. So, there’s no actual alternative right now, to what Mr. Putin has to offer.

Mullins: Thank you, Damian. Damian McGu inn ess, covering the protest in Moscow today for the BBC.
Thanks a lot.

McGuinness: Thank you, Lisa.

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Placard on pushkin square: Forward Russia! Without Putin!

— Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) June 12, 2012