| VasiliyPetrovsky | Date: Wednesday, 2011-12-14, 6:29 AM | Message # 1 |
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Group: Guests
| On 16 November 2011 St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly passed in its first reading a law prohibiting propaganda of homosexuality, lesbianism, transsexuality and pedophilia and introducing fines for such actions. The law is expected to come into force in December 2011. Discussion of St. Petersburg law provoked intensive debates in the Russian media and society. According to its authors it will be used to ban any public events of sexual minorities in the city.
Speaker of Moscow City Duma Vladimir Platonov said in the interview that the law banning propaganda of homosexuality to minors will definitely be passed in Moscow. The next day he was supported by other local parliamentarians who said they are working on such a law to be introduced in Moscow City Duma.
On 17 November Speaker of Russian Upper Chamber of Parliament Valentina Matvienko supported introduction of a similar law on federal level.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3TOsbnSpyE
As seen in this video, the police cracked down very hard on dissent. Whether it is the representatives of the LGBT community or the opposition.
December 4, 2011 in Russia held elections to the Parliament. At stake were the 450 seats in the State Duma, the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia (the legislature). United Russia won the elections with a 49.54% share of votes (238 seats), down from 64.30% in the 2007 elections. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation received 19.16% (92 seats), while the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia got 11.66% (56 seats) and A Just Russia 13.22% (64 seats). Other parties did not cross the 7% election threshold.
According to the web sites, Mr. Putin's party (or, as they call it Russians "party of crooks and thieves'), scored from 6 to 15% of the vote. Everything else - the results of fraud and massive violations of the election.
Saturday’s demonstrations in Moscow were the biggest since the fall of the Soviet Union.
The protesters are demanding a re-run of the election that returned the ruling United Russia party to power. In other cities too there were smaller demonstrations.
“MPs, we didn’t choose you” read one large banner on a bridge over the Moscow River.
The Moscow demonstration dispelled people’s worst fears and became the Russian opposition’s most successful action in years. Now it’s up to the government to choose a response to the demands of tens of thousands of citizens.
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