Newsletters / Open Russia calls for nationwide demonstrations on April 29, 2017
Open Russia Movement Calls for Russian Citizens to Deliver their Demands to President Putin on April 29, 2017
On March 26, 2017 over 70,000 people, including young Russians, came out on to the streets in more than 80 Russian cities to protest against state corruption. Following these protests, the Open Russia movement has called for people around the country to express their dissatisfaction with Putin’s Russia and to support the #НАДОЕЛО (#ENOUGH) campaign, launched by the movement earlier this month in order to raise awareness of Kremlin abuses both at home and on the international stage.
The aim of the campaign is to officially submit a large-scale public demand for Vladimir Putin to abide by the constitution of the Russian Federation and refrain from standing for a fourth presidential term in the 2018 elections.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, founder of the Open Russia movement, stated: “The message is that Putin has done little in his 17 years in power besides establish an entourage of untouchable thieves. The point of the demonstrations is to show that Putin does not have the unconditional support of the Russian people, and that those who oppose his eternal rule are not just “American spies”, but have genuine concerns which for 17 years this government has refused to address.”
The Open Russia movement’s regional offices have applied to local authorities in over 30 cities across the country for permits to conduct street rallies. In Moscow, the demonstration is planned to take place on Slavyanskaya square and will end at 23/16 Ilyinka street where the reception of the presidential administration is located. In St. Petersburg, the meeting place will be the metro station Gorkovskaya and the procession will make its way to number 2 Petrovskaya Naberezhnaya. Demonstrations have also been agreed in Rostov-on-Don, Ufa, Krasnodar, Voronezh, Novosibirsk and Tomsk. Sample letters have been dispatched to over 30 cities across the country and will be distributed to the people in advance of April 29 by the Open Russia team on the ground.
For additional information and comments please contact:
Maria Galitskaya pr-ov@openrussia.org +7-915-128-02-60
Maria Baronova (Open Russia Moscow) +7-910-445-91-07
Andrey Pivovarov (Open Russia St. Petersburg) +7-911-989-94-56
Background
The Open Russia movement was founded in November 2016 by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who also became the movement’s chairman. On the 15th of April 2017 Khodorkovsky left his post, and while maintaining his right to vote as founder of the movement, a new chairman of the movement, Aleksandr Soloviev, was elected on the 16th of April during the movement’s conference in Tallinn.
Over the course of nearly five months, the Open Russia movement has managed to attract over 700 civil activists; a number which is growing by 20-30 with each week. The movement’s physical presence has also grown significantly. Offices have been opened in over 21 Russian regions: Moscow, Moscow region, St. Petersburg, Republic of Tatarstan, Republic of Bashkortostan, Republic of Chuvash, Tver, Irkutsk, Nizhegorodkaya region, Vladimir, Cheliabinsk, Rostov, Pskov, Kirov, Novosibirsk, Krasnodar, Republic of Udmurt and Tomsk.
Open Russia’s work consists of seven fundamental initiatives. Among them are: legal support to citizens (through the Human Rights and Open Rights initiatives), government watchdog, participation in elections (help in organising and conducting elections campaigns for independent candidates, as well as an election fraud watchdog). Open Russia’s Centre for Parent and Child Protection was opened in December 2016 with Maria Belova as its director. The “Open Law” initiative was also launched with Aleksandr Soloviev as its coordinator.