Russia rocked by new mass anti-Putin rally

Russia on Sunday came to terms with its second mass opposition rally within a month which was even bigger and more sharply critical of strongman Vladimir Putin than the first such protest two weeks ago.

Organizers said 120,000 people attended the extraordinary rally in central Moscow Saturday where protesters chanted slogans against Putin and called for the annulment of disputed December elections won by his party.

Police put the numbers at 29,000, but AFP correspondents said the turnout was clearly bigger than the first rally two weeks ago which smashed the taboo in Russia against mass opposition protests.

The last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev also dramatically called on Putin to quit, just as he had done on December 25, 1991 when the USSR collapsed exactly two decades ago.

"This is not an outburst which will die down. This is not about the protests but about the mood," Yevgeny Gontmakher, head of the Centre for Social Policies at the Moscow-based Economics Institute, told AFP.

"There is a danger of a revolution. Authorities are making concessions but are not keeping up with the development of the events."

Russia's state television took the surprise decision to cover the rally hinting at an easing of a long-held taboo against direct criticism of Putin, who came to power 12 years ago and wants to stay at the helm until 2024.

"Sharply negative appraisals of Vladimir Putin have been voiced several times," said a report about the rally broadcast on the Channel One on Saturday night.

With opposition supporters stepping up their challenge to Putin in a campaign first triggered by claims of fraud in December 4 parliamentary polls, a growing public anger against Putin has become impossible to ignore.

"Channel One honestly speaks of the anti-Putin nature of today's meeting. That obviously cannot be pure coincidence," said Vladimir Varfolomeyev, a commentator with liberal Echo of Moscow radio.

Putin — who announced a plan to leave his current post as prime minister to reclaim his old Kremlin job in the March presidential polls — is struggling with the worst legitimacy crisis of his rule.

Mass protests were triggered by widespread claim of wholesale violations in the parliamentary polls this month that handed a reduced majority to Putin's ruling United Russia party.

Protesters called for the annulment of the ballot, sacking of the Central Election Commission chief and a re-run of elections.

Hoping to ride out a wave of protests, Putin ignored those demands and promised instead a return to direct election of governors and a simplified procedure to register political parties.

In defiance of protests, the newly-elected lower house of parliament convened for its first session earlier this week.

Incensed by the Russian premier's claims that opposition supporters were in the pay of the U.S. State Department and insults comparing them to an anti-AIDS campaign, protesters are now taking their anger out directly at Putin.

Most Russians lost their taste for street politics in the chaotic 90s and the scale of the current protests is a major boon for the fragmented opposition which had for years struggled to encourage Russians to take to the streets.

Many had also feared that the opposition would not manage to repeat the success of the first December 10 rally after the initial anger subsided and Russians would leave for warmer climes for the ten-day New Year's break.

The protest movement — which brings together a charismatic anti-corruption blogger, a detective story writer, musicians and a former finance minister — does not so far have a clear leader but is gaining momentum.

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"The people want to bring the slaughterer to trial," shouted the protesters who marched from Change Square, epicentre of the uprising that began nearly a year ago, towards Sittin Avenue in the northern district of Sanaa.

"We won't rest until the slaughterer is executed," they chanted. "We don't want Abdrabuh, Ali Saleh controls him," they chanted, referring to Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi.

Saleh is still honorary president but handed authority over to Hadi last month when he signed a Gulf-brokered deal in which he won immunity from prosecution in exchange for ending his 33-year rule when polls are held in February.

Angry youths have staged defiant protests against the plan, which is backed by the United Nations, despite a bloody backlash by Saleh's forces and loyalists that has seen hundreds of them killed.

But Saleh's General People's Congress party insisted on Sunday that the parliament would confirm the immunity deal.

"Measures will be taken to issue the immunity law as per the Gulf plan" after a parliamentary vote of confidence on the newly formed unity government expected this week, Sultan al-Barakani, who represents the GPC's bloc in parliament, told AFP.

The veteran leader said Saturday that he would soon visit the United States ahead of transferring power following a February 21 presidential election.

A diplomat from one of the countries that has sponsored the deal, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Saleh has presented "a list of 412 people" he wants the immunity deal to include.

The list includes his relatives, aides, and officials who had worked with him during his rule, the source said, adding that Saleh was given a U.S. visa "two weeks ago."

But Sunday's protesters reject any such agreements.

"No guarantee, no immunity to Saleh and to those close to him," they shouted.

The protesters, backed by tens of thousands who were met by gunfire from Saleh's forces and loyalists after they arrived on foot Saturday from the second-largest city Taez, called on Hadi to hand over those responsible for the violence to justice.

"Take up your responsibility and hand the killers of the youths over to justice, or resign," said one of the organizers on a loudspeaker as the demonstrators gathered outside Hadi's residence on Sittin Avenue.

Thirteen people were killed on Saturday when security forces and gunmen loyal to Saleh attacked their march in which they were calling for him to be put on trial.

"Thirteen people were killed and 50 others were wounded by live rounds," a medical official said Sunday, updating an earlier toll of nine dead.

The medic from a field hospital in the capital said that 150 other people suffered from breathing difficulties due to tear gas inhalation.

Another medic who confirmed the toll said three of the wounded had succumbed to their injuries while a fourth was shot dead in another protest later on Saturday.

The objective of the five-day-long "March for Life" that turned deadly on Saturday was to press for Saleh and his top allies to face criminal charges for their roles in the violence committed against anti-regime protesters.

Despite being met by live rounds, water cannon and tear gas upon their arrival in Sanaa's south, the crowds who set off from Taez on Tuesday for the 270-kilometre march to Sanaa poured into the capital where they spent the night in Change Square.

Russian election protesters rally in 60 cities

In what has been called the largest ever showing of anti-government protest in post-Soviet Russia, tens of thousands gathered across the country Saturday — with a massive demonstration in Moscow — to rally against alleged election fraud.

Demonstrations were held in more than 60 cities and much of the public anger is being directed at Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and the ruling United Russia Party. There were fewer than 100 arrests nation-wide, indicating a surprising show of restraint by police.

The independent Russian election-observer group Golos said Saturday the "[United Russia Party had] achieved the majority mandate by falsification," confirming what opposition activists and independent monitors had already alleged as widespread fraud in last weekend's parliamentary elections. Demonstrators want the government to nullify those results and hold fresh elections.

Exact figures on the turnout were nearly impossible to confirm. Police said 25,000 amassed in a Moscow square while some protest organizers put the figure as high as 150,000.

At least 50,000 officers and riot troops were deployed in the city ahead of the demonstrations, the BBC reported. However, police appeared content to remain on the sidelines. Elsewhere in Russia, an estimated 7,000 protesters assembled in St. Petersburg, and demonstrations ranging from a few hundred people to a thousand were held in other locales.

"You can see thousands … of people peacefully protesting what they are calling ballot stuffing and vote rigging," Jessica Golloher, a correspondent with GRN, told CBC News from Moscow.

Putin, who was the president of Russia in 2000-2008 before stepping aside because of term limits, will seek a new term in the Kremlin in the March presidential elections. The protests have tarnished his campaign, but there is not yet any obvious strong challenger.

A statement released late Saturday by Putin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, acknowledged the day's protests by people "displeased" with the elections but noted demonstrations in support of the elections in recent days.

"We respect the point of view of the protesters, we are hearing what is being said, and we will continue to listen to them," the statement said. "The citizens of Russia have a right to express their point of view, in protest and in support, and those rights will continue to be secured as long as all sides do so in a lawful and peaceful manner."

The crowds included both the young and old with demonstrators chanting slogans, waving flags and carrying placards. The turnout was enough to draw the attention of the country's state-controlled media, which normally ignores the opposition. The protests received a significant amount of air-time.

A top United Russia official, Andrei Isayev, acknowledged late Saturday that "expression of this point of view is extremely important and will be heard in the mass media, society and the state."

The demonstrations come three months before Putin, who was president from 2000-2008 and effectively remained the country's leader while prime minister, is to seek a third term in office. The public outpouring challenges his image, supported by state-controlled TV channels, as a man who won the affection of most Russians.

That image was undercut by parliamentary elections on Dec. 4, during which his United Party narrowly retained a majority of seats — despite opposition claims of fraud — but lost the unassailable two-thirds majority it held in the previous parliament.

"A lot of people that I've spoken with basically say that they want Vladimir Putin out of the country," Golloher said. "They don't want him to rule Russia anymore."

Others at the protest said they want more democratic freedoms.

"I don't think any citizen of the country can say he is very happy with anything. We don't have an independent judiciary, there is no freedom of expression — all this combined creates a situation where people are forced to protest," said demonstrator Albert Yusupov.

Several hundred demonstrators gathered in the Pacific city of Vladivostok shouting "Putin's a louse." The Interfax news agency reported that about 15 people were arrested at a protest in the Siberian city of Perm and about 30 were arrested in the eastern city of Khabarovsk when a flash mob started an unauthorized protest.

In an unusual move, government officials gave the go-ahead for many of the demonstrations, including allowing 30,000 to attend the rally in Moscow.

But in what appeared to be an attempt to prevent young people from attending in the capital, the city's school system declared Saturday afternoon a mandatory extra school day for grades nine through 11.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev conceded this week that election law may have been violated. In another rare move, Putin suggested "dialogue with the opposition-minded."

The Kremlin has come under strong international pressure, with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calling the vote unfair and urging an investigation into fraud. Putin in turn criticized Clinton and the United States for allegedly instigating protests and trying to undermine Russia. Hundreds of people were arrested in smaller protests earlier in the week, including several prominent opposition activists.

Although U.S. Sen. John McCain recently warned Putin through Twitter that an Arab Spring-type movement was coming to the country, many commentators have questioned whether Russian activists can sustain a prolonged demonstration similar to the one that ousted Egypt's Hosni Mubarak.

"It's not clear whether or not it will have legs," Julia Ioffe from Foreign Policy magazine told CBC News.

However, the rally in Moscow was a noticeable increase in the number of people willing to voice their opposition to perceived wrongs, she added. Activists are also calling for follow-up demonstrations on Dec. 17 and 24.

Russian police are unlikely to tolerate long-term occupations of public areas and staged events at regular intervals may be less effective at pushing for change.

Russia's opposition is also vulnerable to attacks on the websites and social media that have nourished other protests. This week, an official of Vkontakte, a Russian version of Facebook, reported pressure from the FSB, the KGB's main successor, to block access to opposition groups, but said his company refused.

On election day, the websites of a main independent radio station and the country's only independent election-monitoring group fell victim to denial-of-service hacker attacks.

Still, Ioffe said the large turnout Saturday will likely put pressure on the government to make some concessions.