Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin spoke out against setting up tents in downtown Moscow to protest the results of the March 4 presidential elections, an idea that is being discussed by the opposition, the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper reported on Thursday.
“We provide sites for discussion for all those interested,” Sobyanin said in an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda.
“But there will be no Maidan,” the mayor said, referring to the name of the central square in Ukraine's capital Kiev that was occupied in 2004 by demonstrators protesting rigged presidential elections. "We will not allow any tents to be set up in the city," he said.
The Moscow authorities are not against rallies “if they do not interfere with citizens’ lives," he said.
On Wednesday Vadim Korovin, a member of the opposition group RosAgit, was detained as he tried to distribute tents for protesters at Pushkinskaya Square in central Moscow. Police detained Korovin as soon as he stepped out of his car and the car, with the tents inside, was impounded.
The opposition is preparing a series of protest rallies, following the presidential elections on March 4.
Several opposition groups are discussing plans ranging from setting up tents in downtown city to encircling the Kremlin.
Over 2,000 people have signed up so far on social networks Facebook and Vkontakte to join the group called We Fire Putin, which plans to encircle the Kremlin.
Serzh Konstantinov, a member of the group, told RIA Novosti that “as soon as there are enough people willing to participate, it doesn't depend on the organizers anymore.”
“The White Ring will embrace the Kremlin walls…We will come closer, hold our hands and will not leave until the parliamentary elections are rerun and fair presidential elections are held,” the organizers said in their Live Journal blog.
According to the city authorities, there are over 20 authorized rallies scheduled for March 4 and March 5.
