Clashes mar Russian anti-Putin rally

Politics

Russian protests turned violent this weekend with a May 6 march to protest Vladimir Putin's return to the Russian presidency marked by clashes with police and arrests.

Opposition leaders Alexei Navalny, Boris Nemtsov and Sergei Udaltsov were among those arrested, with the sight of baton-swinging riot police a far cry from the May 1, 120,000 strong crowd--led by the Russian Trade Unions and the United Russia party that was in effect a support Putin? rally.

The May Day march was attended by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and President-elect Vladimir Putin, who starts his third term in office on Monday 7 May 2012. This is the first time, since the fall of the Soviet Union that politicians took part in the May 1 parade. Labour day used to be the most celebrated Soviet state holiday and the participation of politicians in labour day events remains controversial.

The May 6 march was of another character altogether, with the "Russia without Putin" opposition broken up by the police. A 20,000 strong crowd gathered near the Kremlin in Moscow and clashed with police after an attempt to get near the Kremlin walls. Hundreds of people were clubbed and over a hundred arrested.

The protest took place instead of a demonstration that was planned for May 1, which would have paralleled the pro-Putin celebrations. The "Russia without Putin" movement has been organising rallies and marches since December 4, 2011 following the Russian parliamentary elections which they consider dishonest.

The movement demands a repeat of parliamentary elections and the presidential elections of March 2012 in which Putin gained 63.6 per cent of votes. The peak moment of the opposition movement was in December and January with demonstrations gathering approximately 60,000 protesters.

On May 4 2012 Medvedev accepted the position of leader of the United Russia party which ultimately means taking on the role of Prime Minister following the Putin?s inauguration.