Thousands defy crackdown, take to streets against Putin :- 13.6.12-TOI

Oppn Leaders’ Homes Raided Before Rally

Moscow: Undeterred by a sudden escalation in the Kremlin’s crackdown on the opposition, tens of thousands of Russians flooded Moscow’s tree-lined boulevards on Tuesday in the first mass protest against President Vladimir Putin since his inauguration in May.
    Opposition leaders put the number of protesters at 120,000, while police estimated that about 20,000 people showed up.
    The crowd appeared to be smaller than at the anti-Putin demonstrations ahead of the March presidential election, which drew as many as 100,000 people, but the turnout was still impressive in a country where such political protests had brought out no more than a few hundred people only several months ago.
    After tolerating the protests through the winter, Putin has taken a tougher stance since embarking on his third presidential term, including signing a repressive new bill last week that stiffens penalties for taking part in unauthorized rallies.
    Police on Monday searched opposition leaders’ apartments, carting away computers, cellphones and other personal items. They also demanded that opposition leaders come in for questioning on Tuesday, a national holiday.
    Leftist politician Sergei Udaltsov snubbed the summons, saying he considered it his duty to lead the protest as one of its organizers. He spoke at the rally and then appeared for questioning after it was over.
    Anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny, activist Ilya Yashin and TV host Ksenia Sobchak showed up for questioning in the morning. “It’s horrible to sit here while you are having fun,” Navalny tweeted from the investigative committee headquarters.
    Sobchak, a glamorous 30-year-old socialite described by some as Russia’s equivalent of Paris Hilton, insisted she had done nothing wrong and was keeping her savings at home because she doesn’t trust banks.
    Sobchak, the only daughter of St Petersburg’s late mayor, a man who was Putin’s mentor, had been spared reprisals until Monday’s raid. “I never thought that we would slide back to such repressions,” she tweeted.
    Braving a brief thunderstorm, protesters showed up on the central Pushkin Square ahead of the planned march and their numbers grew as they began marching down boulevards to a broad downtown avenue where the rally was held. AP
Won’t allow social shocks to weaken Russia, says president
    President Vladimir Putin vowed on Tuesday not to let Russia be weakened by social shocks as tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in Moscow to protest his historic third term. Putin used a speech honouring Russia’s post-Soviet independence day to allude gravely to the turmoil now shaking some countries that he vowed to defend firmly against.
    “We cannot tolerate decisions and actions capable of leading to social and economic shocks,” Putin told a formal Kremlin ceremony in televised remarks. “We cannot accept anything that weakens our country or divides society.” He said that any future political changes would “based on our accumulated experience of stability” — a mantra of his election campaign. Putin has preferred to treat the protests dismissively and has repeatedly accused Washington of helping incite the demonstrations through indirect funding.