NOVAYA GAZETA, KOMMERSANT (Russia)
MOSCOW - In the aftermath of the “March of the Millions” on May 6th and the arrest of several hundred protesters that night, an improvised camp sprung up overnight in Moscow in the Park of Chistye Prudy, Novaya Gazeta reports.
The camp looks in many ways like the protest camps that have sprung up around the world with the Occupy and Indignados movements. It is divided into four sections: kitchen, creative master classes, legal help, and security. It includes a generator for electricity that allows hot food and drink to be served on benches. But one kind of drink is forbidden: the camp is completely alchohol-free.
Scheduled activities included Esperanto lessons, a lecture on what to do if you are arrested, a meeting with participants from Occupy Wall Street and a history lecture on civil protest.
But while Novaya Gazeta reports that the camps are well-run and organized, Kommersant reports that the damage done to the park has been substantial, estimated at 1 million rubles (around $33,000). But, Kommersant reported, the protesters themselves have already gathered the means to pay for any damage done to the park.
One woman from the neighborhood who was interviewed on television accused the protesters of defecating on the street and insisted that the police remove them immediately. As it turns out, the woman in question is not just a civic-minded grandmother, as viewers were led to believe, Kommersant reported. In fact, she is a member of Vladimir Putin’s party, United Russia, and has appeared on television programs on many occasions.
