Moscow’s young Protester

Last Sunday, a demonstration rallied 20,000 people in Moscow. It was organized by the opposition to Vladimir Putin’s government to protest the repressive measures and the exclusion of the opposition candidate for the September 8 municipal elections.

In the street, the demonstrators chanted “release political prisoners !”. They want to put the executive under pressure in order they release opponents like Alexeï Navalny.

This rally was a protest against the arrest of 2700 demonstrators during the summer.

However, this figure can be explained by the fact the previous demonstrations were not authorized, which prompted acts of violence from the police. The demonstrators arrested by the police were quickly released but a dozen were kept by the police. Six were convicted to 3 and 4 years of jail for “violence” and “breach of demonstration rules”.

Russia had never known demonstrations like these since 2012 with middle class demonstrators in their forties. Now, it’s the young people who ask for theirs rights they think have been repressed for too long by Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian policy. The average protester was a youth city dweller chafing from the 13% decline of purchasing power and rigged polls who no longer believes in the “self-made man’’ embodied by Vladimir Putin.

Louis