Kasparov arrested at Moscow rally

[Crvena zvezda]

Kasparov arrested at Moscow rally14 April 2007 | 12:14 | Source: AP, BBC MOSCOW -- Police have arrested Russian opposition leader Garry Kasparov at a banned anti-Kremlin rally in central Moscow Saturday.

Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov was detained by police as supporters of his organization tried to hold a forbidden protest march in central Moscow.

An Associated Press photographer saw Kasparov inside a police van, waving and smiling to journalists clustered outside on the edge of Pushkin Square.

Kasparov heads the United Civil Front opposition organization which aimed to hold a massive anti-Kremlin protest march on Saturday in alliance with other opposition groups who come together under the rubric of Other Russia to protest.

Opposition forces make a wide array of complaints against the Kremlin on political and economic issues, with particular emphasis on complaints that the Kremlin is suppressing democracy.

Thousands of police, many of them in helmets and wielding nightsticks, were at the square and scores of people were detained. Many of those detained went quietly, but some struggled and were forced into police vehicles by officers holding nightsticks around the detainees' necks.

Another prominent opposition figure, former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, was blocked by police from entering Pushkin Square and several dozen of his supporters were detained, the Interfax news agency reported.

Other Russia has also called for a massive march in St. Petersburg on Sunday. Like the march in Moscow, authorities have forbidden that action. Three previous actions — all called Dissenters' Marches — were either broken up harshly or smothered under a massive police presence in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod in recent months.

The weekend marches could be a key test of the Russian opposition's determination before parliamentary and presidential elections — and a test of how harshly police may move to block their actions.

If the weekend's protests draw large crowds, they could give momentum to Russia's beleaguered opposition and fuel a long season of demonstrations against the government, which critics say has rolled back democracy.

If they founder, it could signal further irrelevancy for the opposition — fractured by years of infighting — as the country moves toward parliamentary elections in December and next year's critical presidential vote.

Some 9,000 police were on duty for the march in Moscow. Authorities gave Other Russia permission to hold a rally on Turgenev Square, but denied their request to gather at Pushkin Square, which is one of Moscow's most well-known and visible public places.

Other Russia vowed to defy the ban and to gather at Pushkin Square and then march to the other square, about a mile away.

Despite police vows to take tough actions against any banned activities, participants declared determination to march.

"Let them beat me, it won't change a thing," said German Severtsev, a 72-year-old retiree who said he planned to take part in the march because his pension is inadequate and he can't find work to supplement his income.

Russia's mainstream liberal parties, which some critics say have been co-opted by the Kremlin, have largely kept their distance. Grigory Yavlinsky, who heads the Yabloko party, refused to participate in the Moscow march, saying in a statement that "the ideological and political composition of these actions are unacceptable for Yabloko."

In the run-up to the demonstrations, Moscow's city council passed strict new regulations on rallies — including a rule limiting the density of protesters to no more than two people per 10 square feet.

This week, prosecutors seized recordings of an Ekho Moskvy radio interview with Limonov, whose National Bolshevik Party is known for its street theater and political pranks targeting Putin.

Since President Vladimir Putin took office in 2000, the Kremlin has moved to centralize power in Russia, created an obedient parliament, abolished direct gubernatorial elections and tightened restrictions on civic groups. Kremlin critics are now rarely heard on major TV networks.

Putin also brought stability to Russian society after a decade of chaos, and has presided over rapid economic growth. Polls rate him as by far the most popular political figure in Russia.

Russia's parliament on Friday accused the U.S. of meddling in their country's politics before the elections, adopting angry statements criticizing a State Department report that outlined U.S. aid to Russian non-governmental organizations.

[Arthur Gordon Pym]

So Kasparov has sold himself out to the Yankee Judaea? What a shame!

[svin]

In case you didn't know, Kasparov is Jewish.


"Garry Kasparov was born Garry Vajnshtejn (the given name analogous to English "Harry" and surname analogous to German "Weinstein" or "Feinstein") in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR to an Armenian mother and a Jewish father".

[Errigal]

I was just about to post the same thing. Imagine how many people are looking up the same thing on Wikipedia right now.

[svin]

Well, I knew it before. And he is known for hatred towards Russians.

[Errigal]

I wonder how many people are fooled by this anti-Russian propaganda campaign? I would like to think not many, but I sometimes feel like there is an unlimited supply of stupidity in the world.

[svin]

Well, Soviet regime wasn't friendly towards Europeans. So that's understandable.

[Errigal]

Originally Posted by svin

Well, Soviet regime wasn't friendly towards Europeans. So that's understandable.

Yes, so much of the coverage has been about a "new Cold War" and "ex-KGB" this and that. The irony is that the Americans and British are now home to the political children of Trotsky and the other Bolcheviks.

I was thinking that Kasparov's propaganda role is to get the rest of us outside Russia to sympathize with the troublemakers. Do you think a large part of the Russian public believes Kasparov is a honest Russian patriot? Do many Russians even know about his political activities?

[Arthur Gordon Pym]

Originally Posted by svin

Well, Soviet regime wasn't friendly towards Europeans. So that's understandable.

Well, there may be several reasons why people buy the anti-Russian propaganda. One of the reasons is this one you just mentioned. Many people still see Russia as USSR, not realizing that the Angloamerica-EU is the new USSR, but much stronger, more cunning and more sophisticated than the defunct USSR.

The other reason is all this twaddle about liberal democracy. It has become one of the "sacred cows" of the modern West, it is enough only to point out at some country as being "tyranny" or having an "authoritarian government" or not being "enough democratic", in order to create a general negative perception of the country in question.

The point is this "sacred" liberal democracy is nowhere fully "democratic" nor fully "liberal". For example, isn't it so utterly ridiculous that a country like Britain, which has such a blatantly undemocratic institution as monarchy and the House of the Lords, to reproach to Russia for its allegedly "defective democracy"?

[Crvena zvezda]

Originally Posted by svin

In case you didn't know, Kasparov is Jewish.


"Garry Kasparov was born Garry Vajnshtejn (the given name analogous to English "Harry" and surname analogous to German "Weinstein" or "Feinstein") in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR to an Armenian mother and a Jewish father".

The only chess player whose jewish that I like is Bobby Fischer. He got in trouble with American authorities for being an anti-semite, so they sought his extradition because he played a match against Boris Spassky at St. Stefan hotel in Montenegro during the sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro. It's a shame that the Montenegrin government refused to give him citizenship due to U.S. pressure. Instead he's a citizen of Iceland.

This is him when he was arrested under the extradition order in Japan:

[Arthur Gordon Pym]

U.S. criticizes Russia on human rights

Mon Apr 16

WASHINGTON - The White House on Monday sharply criticized Russia's harsh handling of anti-government demonstrators, saying it was part of "an emerging pattern of use of excessive force by the authorities."
The criticism came after riot police beat and detained dozens of anti-Kremlin demonstrators Sunday in St. Petersburg on a second day of protests that tested the weak opposition's ability to challenge widely popular President Vladimir Putin. On Saturday, police in Moscow forcefully broke up protests by an anti-government coalition led by former world chess champion Garry Kasparov.
"We are deeply disturbed by the heavy-handed manner in which this weekend's demonstrations in Moscow and St. Petersburg were broken up by the authorities and by an emerging pattern of use by excessive force by the authorities in reaction to similar events," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. "We also find it intolerable that journalists were detained, an unacceptable practice that hinders freedom of the press.
"We underscore that allowing peaceful expressions of protest is an element of democracy and a universally recognized human right," Perino said.
She said she did not believe that President Bush had spoken with Putin about the incidents.
Perino said the United States supports calls for an investigation of the government's actions. She urged the Kremlin to reiterate its commitment to respect international standards of freedom of speech, the media and the right of assembly.
Opinion polls rate Putin as Russia's most popular political figure by far, thanks to newfound political stability and rapid economic growth fueled by high world oil prices. That popularity has cowed mainstream politicians in parliament and allowed Putin to strengthen the Kremlin's powers.
Putin's foes said the harsh handling of demonstrators, who included many elderly people, would fuel a growing sense that the leader is strangling democracy ahead of parliamentary elections in December and a presidential vote next spring.

[source]

[Errigal]

I just heard yet another interview with the Western media done by Garry Kasparov. Is he important at all in Russia?

[Arthur Gordon Pym]

Originally Posted by A Few Acres of Snow

I just heard yet another interview with the Western media done by Garry Kasparov. Is he important at all in Russia?

Well, at least it seems he is desperately striving to become important.

[svin]

More or less important. But he is not worse than other politicians, so called "patriots" included.

[Errigal]

Originally Posted by svin

More or less important. But he is not worse than other politicians, so called "patriots" included.

I was wondering because he seems to be the sweetheart of the neocons here in "the West".

[Kernunnos]

Originally Posted by svin

In case you didn't know, Kasparov is Jewish.


"Garry Kasparov was born Garry Vajnshtejn (the given name analogous to English "Harry" and surname analogous to German "Weinstein" or "Feinstein") in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR to an Armenian mother and a Jewish father".

I thought he was arab.. well, what a difference.... foreign troublemaker,so he has his country to emigrate to, why doesn't he go to Israel once and for all if Russia is so much of a sad dictatorship?

The ugly stooge of ZionUs mafia.