2008 Red Square demonstration
Encyclopedia
The 2008 Red Square demonstration was a political demonstration
that took place on August 24, 2008, at the Lobnoe Mesto in Moscow
. Russia
, in reference to the 1968 Red Square demonstration
. The demonstration involved seven protesters unfurling a banner with the slogan For Your Freedom And Ours (Russian: За вашу и нашу свободу), before police arrived at the scene several minutes later. The police officers detained several protesters and spectators, and tried to destroy all record of the event.
, in which seven Russians protested against the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia
(see Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia
).. The 2008 demonstration was organized to express the sentiment that the Russian Federation had reverted to such Soviet customs, an impression fueled by the inconsistency of official notices published in the media during the war in South Ossetia
.
, and began to shout that slogan..
After several minutes, they started explaining their views to spectators, distributing notices, and answering questions. The basic views of the protesters included the following:
One police officer subsequently approached the protesters and requested that they leave the area. The protesters complied and began walking along the Red square along with the officer; other officers subsequently joined the group. The protesters handed the banner to the police officers and left the Red Square; only three of them, Dmitroshkin, Zboroshenko and Ninenko, were detained, along with several spectators who took pictures and recorded videos of the event. These pictures and videos were destroyed, and one camera was reported to have been broken by the police. Four journalists were amongst the detained spectators, namely
The detained individuals were sent to the Kitai-gorod
police department, where the police officer major Selishev (Селищев) dealt with them. At 12:20pm, all the journalists were released except Kostuchenko, who insisted that the police officers state officially that they had broken her camera. The actions of detained persons were classified as "violation of rules of public events" (article 20.2 of the Offences Code of Russia, "not following the rules of proceedings of a public protest").
Demonstration (people)
A demonstration or street protest is action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause; it normally consists of walking in a mass march formation and either beginning with or meeting at a designated endpoint, or rally, to hear speakers.Actions such as...
that took place on August 24, 2008, at the Lobnoe Mesto in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, in reference to the 1968 Red Square demonstration
1968 Red Square demonstration
The 1968 Red Square demonstration took place on August 25, 1968 at Red Square, Moscow, Soviet Union, to protest the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies, that occurred during the night of 20–21 August 1968, crushing the so-called Prague spring, a set of...
. The demonstration involved seven protesters unfurling a banner with the slogan For Your Freedom And Ours (Russian: За вашу и нашу свободу), before police arrived at the scene several minutes later. The police officers detained several protesters and spectators, and tried to destroy all record of the event.
Historic context
The demonstration was a reference to the 1968 Red Square demonstration1968 Red Square demonstration
The 1968 Red Square demonstration took place on August 25, 1968 at Red Square, Moscow, Soviet Union, to protest the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies, that occurred during the night of 20–21 August 1968, crushing the so-called Prague spring, a set of...
, in which seven Russians protested against the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
(see Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia
Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia
On the night of 20–21 August 1968, the Soviet Union and her main satellite states in the Warsaw Pact – Bulgaria, the German Democratic Republic , Hungary and Poland – invaded the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic in order to halt Alexander Dubček's Prague Spring political liberalization...
).. The 2008 demonstration was organized to express the sentiment that the Russian Federation had reverted to such Soviet customs, an impression fueled by the inconsistency of official notices published in the media during the war in South Ossetia
War in South Ossetia
The 1991–1992 South Ossetian War was fought as part of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict between Georgian government forces and ethnic Georgian militia on one side and the forces of South Ossetia and ethnic Ossetian militia who wanted South Ossetia to secede from Georgia and become an independent...
.
Events and aftermath
At noon on 24 August 2008, the protesters unfurled a banner reading For Our Freedom And YoursFor our freedom and yours
For our freedom and yours is one of the unofficial mottos of Poland. It is commonly associated with the times when Polish soldiers, exiled from the partitioned Poland, fought in various independence movements all over the world...
, and began to shout that slogan..
After several minutes, they started explaining their views to spectators, distributing notices, and answering questions. The basic views of the protesters included the following:
- Political imprisonment has restarted in Russia
- Elections have not been prudent
- Love for country has been substituted with love for its leaders
- The freedom that was created in 1968 is being suppressed today; it is still dangerous to express one's own opinion, and even bloggers are prosecuted.
One police officer subsequently approached the protesters and requested that they leave the area. The protesters complied and began walking along the Red square along with the officer; other officers subsequently joined the group. The protesters handed the banner to the police officers and left the Red Square; only three of them, Dmitroshkin, Zboroshenko and Ninenko, were detained, along with several spectators who took pictures and recorded videos of the event. These pictures and videos were destroyed, and one camera was reported to have been broken by the police. Four journalists were amongst the detained spectators, namely
- Elena Kostyuchenko (Елена Костюченко), from newspaper Novaya GazetaNovaya GazetaNovaya Gazeta is a Russian newspaper well known in the country for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian political and social affairs....
(«Новая газета»); - Ivan Rusayev (Иван Русаев), from newspaper VedomostiVedomostiVedomosti is a Russian language business daily. It is a joint venture between Dow Jones, the Financial Times and Sanoma, publishers of The Moscow Times....
(«Ведомости»); - Dmitriy Borko (Дмитрий Борко), from Grani-TV («Грани-ТВ»); and
- Dmitriy Shibayev (Дмитрий Шибаев), from newspaper New Times («Нъю Таймс»).
The detained individuals were sent to the Kitai-gorod
Kitai-gorod
Kitay-gorod , earlier also known as Great Posad , is a business district within Moscow, Russia, encircled by mostly-reconstructed medieval walls. It is separated from the Moscow Kremlin by Red Square. It does not constitute a district , as there are no resident voters, thus, municipal elections...
police department, where the police officer major Selishev (Селищев) dealt with them. At 12:20pm, all the journalists were released except Kostuchenko, who insisted that the police officers state officially that they had broken her camera. The actions of detained persons were classified as "violation of rules of public events" (article 20.2 of the Offences Code of Russia, "not following the rules of proceedings of a public protest").
External links
- На Красной площади запретили собираться, NEWSmsk.com.
- Семь человек на Красной площади сказали "нет" танкам России в Грузии - трое задержаны NEWSruNewsruNEWSru is one of the Russian online news sites. Originally it functioned as NTV's website under the address ntv.ru. The site remains part of Vladimir Gusinsky's media holding that includes a satellite TV broadcast company RTVi....
, 24 августа 2008 года. - Правозащитники удивляются, почему на Красной площади нельзя провести мирную акцию протеста, Интерфакс
- Российские правозащитники протестуют против задержания в воскресенье на Красной площади группы молодых людей, Эхо Москвы.
Video
- http://grani-tv.ru/entries/443/ (Грани-ТВ), in Russian
- http://piter.indymedia.ru/node/5195 , in Russian