Moscow police clash with poll protesters
Source: Agencies |
December 7, 2011, Wednesday
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POLICE clashed yesterday on a central Moscow square with demonstrators trying to hold a second day of protests against alleged vote fraud in Russia's parliamentary elections.
Hundreds of police had blocked off Triumphal Square yesterday evening, then began chasing about 100 demonstrators, seizing some and throwing them into vehicles.
United Russia supporters also rallied late yesterday at Revolution Square near the Kremlin. State television footage showed a crowd appearing to number in the thousands.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, called his party's reduced number of seats in Sunday's parliamentary election an "inevitable" result of voters always being dissatisfied with the party in power.
Putin also dismissed allegations of corruption among his United Russia party members, calling it a "cliche" that the party had to fight.
In neighboring Lithuania, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton again criticized the Russian election and urged that widespread reports of voting fraud be investigated.
United Russia party won slightly less than 50 percent of Sunday's vote, according to nearly complete preliminary results.
It is a significant drop from the 2007 election when the party got a two-thirds majority, enough to change the constitution unchallenged.
Russia's beleaguered opposition has been energized. Late Monday, thousands marched in Moscow chanting "Russia without Putin!"
Police detained about 300 protesters in Moscow on Monday and 120 participants in a similar rally in St Petersburg. One of the leaders, Ilya Yashin, who was among those arrested, was sentenced to 15 days in jail yesterday for disobeying police.
Security forces already had been beefed up in the capital ahead of the election. Moscow police said 51,500 Interior Ministry personnel were involved and it was all part of increased security for the election period.
"Yes, there were losses, but they were inevitable," Putin said. "They are inevitable for any political force, particularly for the one which has been carrying the burden of responsibility for the situation in the country."
Putin also said corruption was a widespread problem not limited to a single party.
"They say that the ruling party is associated with corruption, but it's a cliche related not to a certain political force, it's a cliche related to power," he said during a meeting with provincial officials.
"What's important, however, is how the ruling government is fighting these negative things," he said.
Clinton criticized the Russian vote for a second straight day, saying yesterday that "Russian voters deserve a full investigation of electoral fraud and manipulation."
Konstantin Kosachev, a senior United Russia member, described Clinton's statement as "one of the darkest pages in the Russian-US relations" and warned Washington against supporting the opposition.
Hundreds of police had blocked off Triumphal Square yesterday evening, then began chasing about 100 demonstrators, seizing some and throwing them into vehicles.
United Russia supporters also rallied late yesterday at Revolution Square near the Kremlin. State television footage showed a crowd appearing to number in the thousands.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, called his party's reduced number of seats in Sunday's parliamentary election an "inevitable" result of voters always being dissatisfied with the party in power.
Putin also dismissed allegations of corruption among his United Russia party members, calling it a "cliche" that the party had to fight.
In neighboring Lithuania, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton again criticized the Russian election and urged that widespread reports of voting fraud be investigated.
United Russia party won slightly less than 50 percent of Sunday's vote, according to nearly complete preliminary results.
It is a significant drop from the 2007 election when the party got a two-thirds majority, enough to change the constitution unchallenged.
Russia's beleaguered opposition has been energized. Late Monday, thousands marched in Moscow chanting "Russia without Putin!"
Police detained about 300 protesters in Moscow on Monday and 120 participants in a similar rally in St Petersburg. One of the leaders, Ilya Yashin, who was among those arrested, was sentenced to 15 days in jail yesterday for disobeying police.
Security forces already had been beefed up in the capital ahead of the election. Moscow police said 51,500 Interior Ministry personnel were involved and it was all part of increased security for the election period.
"Yes, there were losses, but they were inevitable," Putin said. "They are inevitable for any political force, particularly for the one which has been carrying the burden of responsibility for the situation in the country."
Putin also said corruption was a widespread problem not limited to a single party.
"They say that the ruling party is associated with corruption, but it's a cliche related not to a certain political force, it's a cliche related to power," he said during a meeting with provincial officials.
"What's important, however, is how the ruling government is fighting these negative things," he said.
Clinton criticized the Russian vote for a second straight day, saying yesterday that "Russian voters deserve a full investigation of electoral fraud and manipulation."
Konstantin Kosachev, a senior United Russia member, described Clinton's statement as "one of the darkest pages in the Russian-US relations" and warned Washington against supporting the opposition.
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