[pcfrisch]

Looks like the Soviet Union way of life is alive and well
http://abcnews.go.com/International/...ory?id=3041732

MOSCOW Apr 14, 2007 (AP)— Riot police beat and detained protesters as thousands defied an official ban and attempted to stage a rally Saturday against President Vladimir Putin's government, which opponents accuse of rolling back freedoms Russians have enjoyed since the end of Soviet communism.
A similar march planned for Sunday in St. Petersburg has also been banned by authorities.
A coalition of opposition groups organized the "Dissenters March" to protest the economic and social policies of Putin as well as a series of Kremlin actions that critics say has stripped Russians of many political rights. Organizers said only about 2,000 demonstrators turned out.
Thousands of police officers massed to keep the demonstrators off landmark Pushkin Square in downtown Moscow, beating some and detaining many others, including Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion who has emerged as the most prominent leader of the opposition alliance.
Police said 170 people had been detained but a Kasparov aide, Marina Litvinovich, said as many as 600 were although about half were released quickly. Kasparov, whom witnesses said was seized as he tried to lead a small group of demonstrators through lines of police ringing the square, was freed late Saturday after he was fined $38 for participating in the rally.
"It is no longer a country … where the government tries to pretend it is playing by the letter and spirit of the law," Kasparov said outside the court building, appearing unfazed by his detention.
"We now stand somewhere between Belarus and Zimbabwe," he said.
It was the fourth time in recent months that anti-Putin demonstrations all called Dissenters Marches have been broken up with force or smothered by a huge police presence.
The weekend's marches were being closely watched as a barometer of how much of a threat, if any, opposition forces pose to the Kremlin as Russia prepares for parliamentary elections in December and a presidential vote next spring.
Putin, whose second and last term ends in 2008, has created an obedient parliament and his government has reasserted control over major television networks, giving little air time to critics.

[Blood`Trinity]

There ya go Russia, have a taste of the Dissenters that have long plagued and fed the American way of life :]

I wonder how long it'll be before Russia's the new France.

[stlwagon]

and the old Soviet intelligence network (KGB, GRU) is making a big comback too.

[tripleblack]

2008 and Putin is to relinquish power?

Anyone want to bet that something happens to that plan?

With BetUs taking wagers on everything including Global Warming, I wonder what odds they are offering that Putin will just retire next year?

Originally Posted by pcfrisch

Looks like the Soviet Union way of life is alive and well
http://abcnews.go.com/International/...ory?id=3041732

MOSCOW Apr 14, 2007 (AP)— Riot police beat and detained protesters as thousands defied an official ban and attempted to stage a rally Saturday against President Vladimir Putin's government, which opponents accuse of rolling back freedoms Russians have enjoyed since the end of Soviet communism.
A similar march planned for Sunday in St. Petersburg has also been banned by authorities.
A coalition of opposition groups organized the "Dissenters March" to protest the economic and social policies of Putin as well as a series of Kremlin actions that critics say has stripped Russians of many political rights. Organizers said only about 2,000 demonstrators turned out.
Thousands of police officers massed to keep the demonstrators off landmark Pushkin Square in downtown Moscow, beating some and detaining many others, including Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion who has emerged as the most prominent leader of the opposition alliance.
Police said 170 people had been detained but a Kasparov aide, Marina Litvinovich, said as many as 600 were although about half were released quickly. Kasparov, whom witnesses said was seized as he tried to lead a small group of demonstrators through lines of police ringing the square, was freed late Saturday after he was fined $38 for participating in the rally.
"It is no longer a country … where the government tries to pretend it is playing by the letter and spirit of the law," Kasparov said outside the court building, appearing unfazed by his detention.
"We now stand somewhere between Belarus and Zimbabwe," he said.
It was the fourth time in recent months that anti-Putin demonstrations all called Dissenters Marches have been broken up with force or smothered by a huge police presence.
The weekend's marches were being closely watched as a barometer of how much of a threat, if any, opposition forces pose to the Kremlin as Russia prepares for parliamentary elections in December and a presidential vote next spring.
Putin, whose second and last term ends in 2008, has created an obedient parliament and his government has reasserted control over major television networks, giving little air time to critics.

[meangreen92]

putin is a commie. A very evil commie. And he's beginning to look more and more like a megalomaniacal commie.
People think Bush is evil? putin is evil...