Russian anti-protest law could fire up opposition

By Alissa de Carbonnel

MOSCOW | Wed Jun 6, 2012 12:42pm EDT

(Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin's opponents warned on Wednesday that their protest movement could become more radical after parliament approved a law increasing fines on protesters who violate public order.

Almost unanimous approval by the upper house completed rapid parliamentary approval of the law, which opponents say is intended to stifle dissent against Putin, whose return to the Kremlin for six more years has triggered large protests.

Putin has said that Russia needs new regulations on protests and earlier this week defended tougher rules governing protests as being in line with European norms.

The bill now needs only his signature to become law and the opposition expects it to be in force by Tuesday, a public holiday when new demonstrations are planned.

"Criticism of the authorities is becoming the main crime in our country," Gennady Gudkov, an opposition member of the lower house of parliament, told Reuters. "This is a draconian law."

"That the authorities are in a hurry, that they are doing everything at lightning speed, points to their key priority ... to suppress dissent and put pressure on peaceful protests," he said.

People at protests where public order is violated could face fines of 300,000 roubles ($9,100) - more than the average annual salary - and the organizers of such rallies could be fined up to 1 million roubles. The maximum fine had been 5,000 roubles.

In a rare show of defiance by what has long been a largely rubber-stamp parliament, opposition lawmakers in the State Duma lower house had dragged out debate on Tuesday before Putin's United Russia party eventually managed to ram it through.

The Federation Council, the upper house, approved it by 132 votes to one, with one abstention, after a short debate.

LAW COULD HAVE UNINTENTIONAL EFFECT

Although the aim is to discourage protests against Putin, who has dominated Russia for 12 years, some of his critics said the law could unintentionally fuel opposition.

"I was still debating whether or not to go (to the Moscow rally) on June 12. Now there is only one possible choice," psychologist and blogger Yulia Rubleva said.

Mikhail Fedotov, the chairman of the Kremlin's human rights' council, said the bill could violate the constitutional right to free assembly.

"If this amendment governing demonstrations casts doubt on the real constitutional right of citizens to gather peacefully, without weapons, there is a real threat that it will serve only to radicalize the protests," he told Reuters.

Communist Party deputy Anatoly Lokot said the protest mood will only grow.

"This law is deepening the gulf that separates the people from the Russian president," he said, adding that "instead of dialogue" the authorities were "brandishing a truncheon".

Police largely left alone the mostly middle-class crowds who protested against Putin's 12-year rule this winter but beat protesters and detained hundreds at a rally in Moscow on May 6, one day before Putin's inauguration.

Some young professionals who have been regulars at the protests, some of which involved just singing songs or walking through parks dressed in white, say they have lost their jobs.

"They thought they would discourage the protests by arresting people like me, who had never before been detained, but they only poured fuel on the fire," said Alisa Obraztsova, a 24-year-old lawyer. ($1 = 32.9987 Russian roubles)

(Additional reporting by Darya Korsunskaya; Writing by Timothy Heritage and Alissa de Carbonnel; editing by Mark Heinrich/Jeremy Gaunt)