Fergie's Tech Blog

Off Topic: Garry Kasparov Held in Moscow Protest March

Andrew E. Kramer and Michael Schwirtz write in The New York Times:

Garry Kasparov, the former chess champion turned opposition politician in Russia, was arrested with nearly 200 other protesters during a rally in Moscow on Saturday that ended in clashes with riot troops.

The rally, the third so-called Dissenters’ March held by a loose antigovernment coalition known as Other Russia, was noteworthy because authorities aggressively pursued the organizers, including President Vladimir V. Putin’s former prime minister, Mikhail M. Kasyanov, whom the police jostled but did not arrest.

The rally was principally supported by Mr. Kasyanov and Mr. Kasparov, who leads a group here called the United Civil Front.

Essentially barred from access to television, members of Other Russia have embraced street protests as the only platform to voice their opposition ahead of parliamentary elections in December and presidential elections next March. Early this month, Mr. Kasyanov’s and Mr. Kasparov’s Web sites were blocked, though it was unclear by whom.

posted by Fergie @ 4/14/2007 12:50:00 PM