Antiwar picket to be held in Moscow on March 18

An antiwar picket on Pushkinskaya Square banned by the authorities will be held in the Novopushkinsky park on March 18. Formally there will be no picket: participants will go to Pushkinskaya Square without breaking the authorities' ban. They will not carry posters. They will just show their disagreement with the prefecture's decision and will answer questions.

The application for the holding of the action on March 18 filled by the organizers of the picket, who have been protesting against the war in Chechnya for already four years, was rejected almost for the first time. The written reply from the prefecture reads, "Your application cannot be considered." The organizers believe such a reply to be not based on the law and plan to appeal against the decision judicially. The picket held last Thursday, March 11, was also banned by the authorities: the permission that had been given before was cancelled quickly, organizers were detained by the police, and administrative cases were opened against them. Picket participants and organizers are afraid that the second denial to consider the application is an alarming fact, which does more than just run counter to the Russian legislation but implies the new line of suppressing dissidence taken by the authorities on the first days of the second term of President Vladimir Putin, who continues the war in Chechnya and conceals the real state of affairs in the region.

Editors note: See also the articles "Elena Batenkova: authorities want to ban antiwar picket", "Administrative cases against antiwar picket organizers considered in court".