Strategy 31 in Moscow: Hot July

Photo by our reporter

Police arrested two opposition leaders and nearly 100 followers.

Today, 31 July, on Triumfalnaya Square in Moscow took place the next rally of the opposition, on the protection of Article 31 of the Constitution of Russia. Companions of our organization actively participated in this action.

The first thing we want to immediately note - this is another "holiday", which as always was planned by the authorities of 31 dates. No wonder it is not because government is well aware that if they would hold a rally opposition to 31 the date of Triumfalnaya Square, they immediately lose in this fight for the rights.

At this time the square was a show car, motorcycle show, which somehow protects enormous number of policemen, riot police, soldiers, the Interior Ministry Internal Troops, as well - SWAT Interior Ministry.

And the right would be if this show could calmly go ... Companions "The Freedom Russia Organization" quite simply not allowed at this event, as they were found innocent pins with the number "31". Police officer and said (verbatim): "You have the icons opposition organization, so I will not fail to keep to the event."  

At exactly 18 o'clock on the Square, opposition leaders appeared: Lyudmila Alekseeva, Lev Ponomarev, and Eduard Limonov, which made several statements about ordinary shares 31.

It so happened that opposition supporters were divided into two parts: the first had gathered on the steps of the concert hall named after Tchaikovsky, and others - was on the opposite side is not far from the statue of Mayakovsky.

Arrests began at a time when all the action started on the steps of the concert hall named after Tchaikovsky. The crowd began to chant a simple word: "Freedom!" And already it has become the basis for the detention of civilians who had come to a peaceful rally in the center of their country...

Apprehensions were massive and chaotic. It was difficult to understand who will be next. Sometimes the clutches of the gallant gendarmes come across ordinary people who just walked past ... At the appeals of human rights defenders and lawyers to comply with civil rights, the State resorted to the Interior Ministry special forces, after which the crowd of demonstrators have simply been squeezing in the direction of the Theatre Moscow City Council.

It is worth noting that the police used swear words while detaining protesters. Appalling picture was at the time when the Special Forces and the police just started to push people to the ground and walk through them. Some activists and photographers were physically damaged, because the police did not hesitate to hit people. Our photographer got some abrasions and bruises because he had been knocked to the ground several policemen.

On the other side of the picture was less "nice" - mass arrests and provocations by security officials dressed in civilian clothes. In the eyes of our activists have been detained around 15 people. Some provocateurs tried to detain and our allies, but help came from the public and people in the civil failed to hold our defenders.

However, it is worth noting that among the detained were: opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, coordinator of the "Left Front" Sergei Udaltsov, the defender of Khimkinsky Wood Evgenya Chirikova  and head Motorists Federation Sergey Kanaev, and many activists and supporters of the opposition movement in Russia.

We estimate that today's action in Moscow brought together about 1000 people, but failed to gather all together, because the protesters were separated by barriers. The detainees were about five paddy wagons, then about 50-70 people.

Our organization is grateful to all who came and told about their rights! We are grateful to the activists of the "Solidarity", "Left Front", "Movement Against Illegal Immigration", Federation of Russia drivers' and Officers' Union of Russia for their active citizenship!

Resistance Continued!