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Moscow grandma holds a poster calling to release oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky from jail / Photo: Nicholas Danilov
 Hundreds Rally for "Free Country" in Moscow on Russia Day
Created: 13.06.2006 18:21 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 11:51 MSK
On June 11, Day of Russia, some 600 people gathered in Moscow centre for a rally entitled “Free country for free people”.
The protesters, mostly young people, rallied against nationalism, mass media censorship, political arrests, army hazing and the so-called “Operation Successor” that kicked off ahead of nearing presidential elections.
The police did not allow young activists of pro-Kremlin Russia United party unwrap flags with the party symbolic.
The holiday marks the adoption on June 12, 1990 of a Declaration of Independence by lawmakers. It was declared a holiday in 1994 by President Boris Yeltsin and was known for nearly a decade as Independence Day.
Some 200,000 police officers were out in the streets to enforce law and order, Russian media agencies reported.
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“I am free” reads the badge held by a protester / Photo: Nicholas Danilov
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Banner saying “Free people of a free country” seen in front of a choir of young girls on stage / Photo: Nicholas Danilov
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An old lady waves a Soviet symbols flag / Photo: Nicholas Danilov
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A woman collects signatures under the call to return the dead body of Chechen leader Aslan Maskhadov to his family / Photo: Nicholas Danilov
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Portrait of Russia’s first president Boris Yeltsin pinned to a protester’s chest / Photo: Nicholas Danilov
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Boy wearing a t-shirt with an inscription “Return the mother to her kids” stands between two police officers. Svetlana Bakhmina, Yukos oil company lawyer and mother of two small children, was arrested on December 7 and allegedly subjected to harsh interrogation in breach of international law. / Photo: Nicholas Danilov
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Protesters hold banners promoting fair elections, democracy and freedom to political prisoners / Photo: Nicholas Danilov
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“Freedom to Svetlana Bakhmina”, jailed Yukos lawyer, urges the t-shirt stretched on a young activist’s chest / Photo: Nicholas Danilov
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Once rated as Russia’s richest man, the 42-year-old Khodorkovsky is serving an eight years’ term on charges including fraud and tax evasion, after a trial seen as punishment for his political ambitions. / Photo: Nicholas Danilov
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