12 December 2013, 02:35
Sochi Mayoralty offers to allocate area for protests during Olympics
The Sochi Administration sent an application to the Administration of the Krasnodar Region for coordinating the citizens' protest zone.
The proposed venue for protest actions is the park in Khosta, located in the street named after 50 years of the USSR, Evgeny Kuzhelev, an employee of the PR department of the Sochi City Administration, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
Public and political figures of Sochi believe that the proposed place is uncomfortable for city residents; while the decision itself is contrary to the Constitution.
"I think that the authorities have deliberately chosen a place, where no one will see and hear the protesters; nobody will just know about the protest," Yuri Dzaganya, the leader of the local branch of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF), has commented on the proposal of the authorities to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
Any decrees that restrict the citizens' rights to protest are unconstitutional, said Igor Vasiliev, the chairman of the local self-government "Kudepsta".
"If the authorities forbid us to hold rallies where there are many people, and where we can really be heard, we'll go to court, up to the European Court, and prove the unconstitutional and illegal nature of such decision," Igor Vasiliev said in his interview to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
Author: Svetlana Kravchenko Source: CK correspondent
