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发帖数: 1932 | 1 MOSCOW — Vladimir V. Putin reclaimed the Russian presidency under the
vaulted gold ceiling of a Kremlin palace on Monday, as the police tried to
stamp out a second day of protests in the city, passing on orders to detain
anyone wearing a white ribbon, the opposition’s symbol.
In a ceremony anchored less in words than the physical attributes of power,
Mr. Putin’s motorcade glided soundlessly through a city that seemed emptied
of people. Inside the Kremlin’s battlement, he then walked over a long red
carpet through a series of large chambers until he reached one as lustrous
and intricate as a jewel box.
There Mr. Putin took the oath of office for a third time, extending his
status as Russia’s paramount leader to a total of 18 years. He has said he
may run for a fourth six-year term after that, meaning he could legally
remain in power until 2024.
Mr. Putin, who will turn 60 in the fall, looked grave — and at times
burdened — as he delivered a short address to a roomful of ministers,
religious leaders and a sprinkling of international figures, including his
close friend, Silvio Berlusconi, the former Italian prime minister.
“I will do my best to justify the trust of millions of our citizens,” Mr.
Putin said. “I think it is the meaning of my whole life, and it is my duty
to serve our country, serve our people. This support encourages me and
inspires me and helps me address the most difficult tasks. We have passed a
long and difficult road together.”
As a 30-gun salute cracked over an eerily quiet city, the police were under
orders to clear squares and boulevards around the Kremlin, where opposition
protesters were gathering for a second day. The police reported that 300
people had been detained on Monday, adding to upward of 400 who were rounded
up by police officers after an unexpectedly large anti-Putin march on
Sunday.
Sunday marked a jarring shift in a city that over the last six months has
become accustomed to large, peaceful antigovernment rallies.
A melee broke out after radical activists among the protesters tried to
break through a column of riot police in an apparent effort to reach the
Kremlin, and riot police charged into the crowd, trying to drag out men
suspected of belting them with smoke bombs and rocks, and beating some
brutally with nightsticks. Mr. Putin’s spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, said
later that their reaction was too gentle and that he would have liked to see
them crack down harder.
The police reported that 20 officers had been injured in the brawl. Early on
Monday, a city safety official said authorities would hesitate to sanction
future marches led by the organizers of Sunday’s event, like the blogger
Aleksei Navalny and the leftist activist Sergei Udaltsov.
“Naturally, we will consider the possible consequences in the event that
among the applicants there are organizers of the so-called March of Millions
,” said Aleksei Mayorov, who heads Moscow’s department of regional
security.
On Monday, calls went out via Facebook and Twitter for a repeat protest
outside the Kremlin during Mr. Putin’s inauguration. Several hundred
protesters played cat-and-mouse with camouflaged riot police, stopping
briefly at times to chant anti-Putin slogans before taking off to avoid
arrest. Some acknowledged uncertainty about where it was all headed.
“Up until now, all was peaceful,” said Aleksei Yeryomin, 40, an art
director for a magazine. “But the first blood has been spilled, and knowing
the Russian character, the situation will now be unpredictable.”
A large group of protesters wearing the white ribbons that have become the
symbol of the movement was surrounded by the police in a central part of
Moscow. They began chanting, “Police, don’t serve the criminals.” In
response an officer in a helmet gave an order: “Arrest everyone with a
white ribbon.”
Thoughout the day, police detained people seemingly at random, regardless of
whether they were wearing white ribbons. In one square in central Moscow, a
young man was whisked away by riot police for calling on a group of young
people to sit down. Police refused to comment when reporters asked the
reason for the arrests.
The police also conducted sweeps of restaurants and cafes that are
frequented by liberal intellectuals in Moscow, including a McDonalds near
the Kremlin.
Nikita Volkov, a 28-year-old computer programmer, said he was walking down
the street with some friends when he was grabbed by the police and put in a
van. “When I asked why they were detaining me, they didn’t explain,” he
said.
He was let go after a “prophylactic meeting” in which he was warned not to
protest. Once released, he removed the white ribbon that had been tied to
his belt.
Most people who were detained were quickly released. Police also released
the organizers of Sunday’s protest, including the anti-corrution blogger
Aleksei Navalny and the leftist firebrand Sergei Udaltsov, who were fined
about $30.
The political friction was noted obliquely inside the gilded chambers of the
Kremlin, where Dmitri A. Medvedev ended a four-year term as president that,
in the end, served largely to ensure Mr. Putin’s continued control. In his
speeches, Mr. Medvedev often questioned the Kremlin’s tight grip on
business and politics, leading some to hope that he would push through
structural changes if he served a second term.
As he surrendered the presidency, Mr. Medvedev seemed to be explaining his
decision, saying Russia could not be transformed into a modern country
without “continuity in the government’s policies.”
“This is the only way for us to build a strong and democratic state where
there will be rule of law and social justice, where security is ensured,”
Mr. Medvedev said. “These are the tasks that have been my priority as
president. I worked as I promised when I took the oath.”
As he has before, Mr. Medvedev spoke with pride of the uptick in political
activism that jolted the Kremlin last winter, when tens of thousands took to
the streets to protest violations and vote-rigging in parliamentary
elections.
“One of our obvious achievements was that our citizens became more actively
involved in politics,” he said. “It is very important that the government
itself is more open for dialogue and cooperation. A state cannot work
effectively without feedback from the people.”
Michael Schwirtz contributed reporting.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/08/world/europe/vladimir-putin-r |
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