27 Aug 2010 | Index Index, minipost
Police arrested human rights campaigners and prevented them from gaining signatures for petitions at U2’s first concert in Russia, on 25 August. The tents of Amnesty International, Greenpeace Russia, and U2’s own charity the ONE campaign for Aids, were all removed by police. Campaigners were not allowed to hand out leaflets or talk to any of the 75,000 fans at the Moscow venue. Head of Amnesty International in Russia, Sergei Nikitin, said that the organistation had carried out similar publicity events at many of the band’s concerts in Europe.
23 Aug 2010 | Index Index, minipost
An opposition leader and two other activists have been charged with “resisting police” and “holding an unsanctioned march“. Former deputy prime minister Boris Nemtsov was arrested, along with activist Mikhail Schneider and human rights campaigner Lev Ponomaryov, at a march marking Russia’s National Flag Day on 22 August. The men were detained at a Moscow police department and later a magistrate’s court, before being released early this morning. All three deny the charges and say that they were simply walking down the street carrying a flag. The court hearing is expected to continue on 24 August.
18 Aug 2010 | Digital Freedom, Index Index, minipost
The website of the Russian Centre for the Protection of Forestry (Roslesozashchita) has been blocked since 13 August after it contradicted the official government line that brush fires had not reached areas contaminated by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. The agency said fires were reported in the Bryansk region bordering Belarus and Ukraine, where radioactive residue covers large areas. Speaking on Russian television shortly before the website became inaccessible, emergencies minister Sergei Shoigu dismissed this as “unclear information from an unclear website”. Officials seem reluctant to comment on the radioactive threat, despite warnings from Greenpeace Russia. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) suggest the website may have been blocked because the information posted was embarrassing for the government rather than incorrect.
16 Aug 2010 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
Rapper Noize MC, who was jailed for 10 days in Volgograd after mocking local police in a song and an improvised rap at a festival, has released a new song criticising the police. Launched soon after the artist left jail last week, and entitled “10 Days in Paradise” or “10 Days (Stalingrad)”, the song sarcastically thanks police for the inspiration provided by his time in prison. The accompanying video shows footage of Russian police brutality, including violence at a demonstration in St. Petersburg on 31 July. Noize MC, whose real name is Ivan Alexeyev, has included in the song an apology he read out while in prison, which was distributed by the Volgograd police’s press service. Alexeyev told Gazeta.ru that the apology was only written and performed because he was threatened with having his charges changed from “disorderly conduct” to “insulting a police officer” — an offence punishable by up to one year of “correctional labour”.
