RA’s Daily Russian News Blast – Nov 5, 2009
TODAY: Two arrested in relation to the Markelov and Baburova killings; police looming at yesterday’s Unity Day celebrations; leaders pledged tolerance whilst ultranationalists marched en masse; bloggers to be hushed by Yandex decision?; why Russia fears a census; Georgian Foreign Minister renounces citizenship; Putin lectures filmmakers.
Two people have been arrested in relation to the shooting of human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov and reporter Anastasia Baburova in January. Apparently the two suspects are former members of neo-fascist group Russian National Unity – although a lawyer for RNU has denied this claim. Yesterday’s Unity Day celebrations in Moscow were heavily policed amid fears that fighting could break out between different bands of youths. In an address, President Medvedev emphasized tolerance and the bringing together of ‘people of different classes, nationalities and faiths’, as did Patriarch Kirill: ‘we, representatives of the religions of Russia, are evidence that neither religious nor ethnic differences can divide our nation’. Despite its harmony-promoting title, the holiday attracts, according to the Other Russia, large swathes of ultra-nationalists. Nationalist marchers clashed with anti-fascist protesters in St Petersburg. Ria-Novosti reports that nearly 30 people were detained in Moscow. In its annual report, the U.N. Human Rights Committee reportedly heavily criticized Russia’s treatment of gay people, arguing they encounter ‘systematic discrimination‘ from the government.
Two people have been arrested in relation to the shooting of human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov and reporter Anastasia Baburova in January. Apparently the two suspects are former members of neo-fascist group Russian National Unity – although a lawyer for RNU has denied this claim. Yesterday’s Unity Day celebrations in Moscow were heavily policed amid fears that fighting could break out between different bands of youths. In an address, President Medvedev emphasized tolerance and the bringing together of ‘people of different classes, nationalities and faiths’, as did Patriarch Kirill: ‘we, representatives of the religions of Russia, are evidence that neither religious nor ethnic differences can divide our nation’. Despite its harmony-promoting title, the holiday attracts, according to the Other Russia, large swathes of ultra-nationalists. Nationalist marchers clashed with anti-fascist protesters in St Petersburg. Ria-Novosti reports that nearly 30 people were detained in Moscow. In its annual report, the U.N. Human Rights Committee reportedly heavily criticized Russia’s treatment of gay people, arguing they encounter ‘systematic discrimination‘ from the government.