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Nationalists set to stage unauthorized Russian March in Moscow on 12 December
Interfax

Moscow, 3 December: The organizers of the so-called Russian March are saying that the authorities have refused to agree to the route they proposed and to a rally in the centre of Moscow on Constitution Day, 12 December.

One of the organizers of the Russian March, leader of the (extreme nationalist) Slav Union Dmitriy Demushkin, has said that the authorities have definitely refused to allow a procession from Pushkinskaya Ploshchad (square) to Teatralnaya Ploshchad, with a rally there.

"They offered us the 'cesspool' for public events in Naberezhnaya Tarasa Shevchenko (embankment) (which we immediately turned down), or, as al alternative, a rally in Chistoprudnyy Bulvar (boulevard) by the Griboyedov monument, with a limited number of participants, no more than 300 people," Demushkin told Interfax on Wednesday (3 December).

He vowed that the Russian March would take place regardless. "We will stage the Russian March in any event," Demushkin said.

Commenting on the stance taken by the Moscow authorities, he said: "We don't like the very trend of behaviour of the Moscow city hall." "Citing inconvenience for the capital's residents, the authorities can do whatever they please," Demushkin added.

Meanwhile, he pointed out, "our constitution clearly says that people here may express their position at rallies, processions and meetings". "We want one thing only: for the authorities to observe the law and to make the rules of play perfectly clear. If they have any legally formulated grievances against our organizations, let them spell them out," the Slav Union leader said.

"It's a mockery if, on Constitution Day, we are told that we can come out, but no more than 300, because in the city centre we'll be in the way of the people doing their shopping," he said. (Passage omitted) "In that case, they should give us a venue somewhere in the woods so that we can gather without getting in anybody's way. Or do they think we'll impose quotas on places for those who take part in the Russian March?" Demushkin said.

He also said that he had come under increased pressure from law enforcement bodies in recent days, since the application for another event was submitted to the Moscow city hall. "I am getting phone calls all the time, summoning me to some incomprehensible interviews at just about every police station in Moscow," Demushkin said.

The application for the Russian March was submitted on 1 December; a similar application, to stage a procession and a rally from Triumfalnaya Ploshchad (square) down Tverskaya Ulitsa (street; Moscow's main thoroughfare) to Ploshchad Revolyutsii, was submitted by representatives of the Other Russia opposition coalition. (Passage omitted).