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*AN-PRESS MESSAGE * AN-PRESS MESSAGE * AN-PRESS
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=========================31.04.1999===========================
ANARCHISTS PICKET RUSSIAN PARLIAMENT DEMANDING
RELEASE OF ARRESTED COMRADES
On March 30 about 50 anarchists and human
rights activists picketed the Federation
Council (upper houses of the Russian parliament) demanding release of two anarchists,
Maria Randina and Larisa Schiptsova, arrested on dubious charges of plotting an
assassination of Krasnodar governor Kondratenko. The protestors were handing
out leaflets, holding large posters against the police state, for the release
of the arrested anarchists and chanting slogans "The state is the main
extremist", "FSB (KGB) is child murderer", etc.
Although all the major media were notified by
e-mail and fax about the picket and were presented with a detailed account of
the case, not a single journalist showed up. The specialists of the society of
the spectacle were busy with reporting on the Yugoslav matters and the address
of the president to the parliament on March 30 (unfortunately, he addressed the
MPs in a different building). The timing of the picket was probably bad, but the
organizers preferred to have an uninterrupted action and thus had to comply
with outrageous limitations imposed by the Moscow laws (appeals to hold a demo
are to be presented to the city authorities 10 days in advance, they still have
the right to refuse, change the place or put a limit on sound equipment - the
later is what exactly happened in our case).
Kommersant, a leading Russian business daily,
which refused to publish information on the case, has reported that Kondratenko
believes that it was "certain (Zionist) circles" which were behind an
attempt "to plant a bomb in (his) office". "What else but money
could unite a Czech, an Adygeyan and a Russian from Siberia?" he s
reported to have said (this is a reference to the 3 people first arrested in
November last year - a Czech comrade was released and deported to Czech
Republic, Maria is originally from Siberia, the main suspect, Gennady Nepshikuyev,
who physically had the bomb and now reports to the investigators about the
non-existing terrorist plot is from Adygeya, a republic bordering Krasnodar
region).
Simultaneously, on March 30, there were pickets
organized in Yekaterinburg and St.Petersburg (Russia) and Berlin. In
Yekaterinburg the picket gathered about 30 people, in St.Petersburg it was
smaller. In Berlin about 30 people showed up at the Russian embassy, but the
Russian consulate workers refused to get a petition (so it was sent by fax).
Various civil groups, for example, Youth ecological movement of Tatarstan, are
sending their protests to the Krasnodar authorities.
Articles on the infamous Krasnodar case,
biographies of the arrested, press-releases and other general information are
posted to a special site at http://www.ecoline.ru/actions/bomba/. Most of the
materials are in Russian, although there are English and German sections as
well. The site also features photos of Maria and Larisa, as well as a few photos
of the picket in Moscow on March 30.
You can send protests to:
the governor of Krasnodar Nikolai E.
Kondratenko
350014 Krasnodar, ulitsa Krasnaya, 35
Tel.(7-8612) 62-57-16, fax (7-8612) 68-45-38
Krasnodar regional procurator
A.N.Shkrebets
Fax (7-8612) 68-30-95
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