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Viewing cable 09VLADIVOSTOK50, YOUTHS DANCE, SEVEN PROTESTERS DETAINED AT VLADIVOSTOK

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09VLADIVOSTOK50 2009-04-13 07:34 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Consulate Vladivostok
VZCZCXRO8151
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDBU RUEHFK RUEHHM RUEHKSO RUEHLN RUEHNAG RUEHPB RUEHPOD
RUEHYG
DE RUEHVK #0050 1030734
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 130734Z APR 09
FM AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1123
INFO RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHZU/ASIAN PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION COLLECTIVE
RUEHVK/AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK 1226
UNCLAS VLADIVOSTOK 000050 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON PGOV RS
SUBJECT: YOUTHS DANCE, SEVEN PROTESTERS DETAINED AT VLADIVOSTOK 
DEMONSTRATIONS 
 
REF: VLADIVOSTOK 047 
 
Summary: Vladivostok was again the site of anti-government 
demonstrations on April 11 and 12.  The Vladivostok Union of 
Officers joined already-established demonstration leaders to 
voice their discontent on economic issues and military cutbacks. 
 Yedinaya Rossiya sent its youth wing to stage a 
counter-demonstration in support of Kremlin policies.  Local 
OMON detained seven members of the Community of Initiative 
Groups of Russia (TIGR). 
 
Round One:  Military Officers and Dancing Students 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
About 500 retired military officers took part in a demonstration 
in downtown Vladivostok April 11 to protest a proposed military 
downsizing and increasingly difficult economic conditions for 
active duty and retired military personnel (reftel).  During the 
demonstration, organizers called for the dismissal of the 
Federal government and increased benefits for military members. 
Uniformed militia members hindered journalists and attempted to 
keep photographers from taking pictures, while others in 
plainclothes tried to switch off speakers' microphones.  By the 
end, two participants received official warnings for "violation 
of public order" and participating in an unsanctioned public 
demonstration. 
 
At the same time, less than 100 meters away, about 30 
representatives of Yedinaya Rossiya's youth wing Molodaya 
Gvardia organized a mini dance party adjacent to the city's 
World War II memorial.  A DJ at that gathering, dubbed by 
organizers as "a meeting against extremism and in support of the 
federal government," piped dance music through a public address 
system and urged older people to leave the area. 
 
Round Two: TIGR and OMON 
------------------------ 
 
The following day, around 200 TIGR members conducted their event 
at the same location.  They had expected more participants, but 
numerous militiamen throughout the downtown area reportedly 
turned away motorists attempting to park.  Participants held 
banners criticizing Primorye Governor Sergey Darkin, President 
Dmitriy Medvedev, and PM Vladimir Putin.  Organizers released 
several dozen orange balloons into the air, saying it was to 
mark Space Day and the anniversary of Yuriy Gagarin's launch, 
though the color orange was generally taken to be a reference to 
Ukraine's Orange Revolution.  The OMON troops and militiamen 
observing the demonstration then ordered participants to 
disperse and detained seven demonstrators. A few hours later, a 
Political FSN witnessed militiamen questioning a group of 
students carrying an orange balloon. 
 
Molodaya Gvardia's counter-demonstration that day attracted less 
than 100 supporters, who spoke out against xenophobia and 
criticized the TIGR protest as "extremist activity."  One 
Molodaya Gvardia member who attempted to break banners and flags 
held by TIGR members was detained by the militia.  One reporter 
at the scene noted in his coverage that the demonstrators, who 
were mostly students, showed little interest in the event and 
many were unaware of the meaning of the 'xenophobia' which they 
spent the day demonstrating against. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
Authorities were well-prepared for the weekend's set of 
demonstrations with numerous militiamen stationed throughout the 
downtown area and police buses ready to haul away protesters. 
With the addition of disgruntled military officers joining the 
mix, the discontent is slowly spreading.  However, since 
December none of the demonstrations have turned violent and 
fortunately authorities appear to have decided to not take a 
hard line stance for now.  Molodaya Gvardia, the only group as 
yet to come out in support of the government, ended up taking a 
public relations hit, as having a dance party at the site of a 
memorial for war dead was considered by many to be inappropriate. 
 
KOVACSICS