Page 14 - RusRPTAug19

"Citizens of the Russian Federation shall have the right to assemble peacefully, without weapons, hold rallies, meetings and demonstrations, marches and pickets,” Article 31 reads.
However, the authorities have added the caveat that they must ask for permission to protest within the city due to the disruption to traffic. While the courts are scrupulous in assigning a venue to any protests it is always away from the city centre and out of the spotlight.
A protestor holds up a copy of the Russian constitution to a riot police officer. Article 31 guarantees the right to assembly.
However, something does seem to have changed. The opposition has been notoriously disorganised and prone to internecine fighting, but the issue of the Moscow city council elections and the onslaught of the police appears to have unified the oppositions efforts to some degree.
While the bulk of the commentary has greeted the protesters' determination to face down police charges and stand up for their cause with glee, claiming the Putin regime is ripe for collapse yet again, the reality is that yes the protestors have been galvanised, but their number remains too small to spark a general “coloured revolution” that could force Putin out of office.
Nikolai Alekseev, de facto leader of Moscow’s efforts to hold a gay pride parade faces a similar issue and explained the problem to bne IntelliNews.
“The authorities make it clear that anyone that comes out in support faces clubbing by the police. We are waiting for the point where Russians are so fed up with their leaders they are willing to face being hit by a police baton for the change they want. We are not there yet.”
The sanctioned protest the week before drew 20,000 people but the unsanctioned protest drew 10,000 people that were in effect willing to face police violence for their political convictions.
After six years of austerity and falling incomes this 10,000 remains a very small share of Moscow’s population of some 15-17mn people, but is nevertheless a significant number of people.
The city council elections are yet another sign that the Russian population is maturing and becoming more vocal in what it expects and demands from its government but to force real change on the Russian political system it has a long way to go.
“What we are seeing today is the process of struggle, with the underdog
14 RUSSIA Country Report August 2019 www.intellinews.com