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Car-tariff protesters beaten in Russia's Far East
2008-12-21
VLADIVOSTOK, Russia - Riot police clubbed, kicked and detained dozens of people who gathered at a holiday celebration in Russia's Far East Sunday as hundreds protested across the country over a hike in car import tariffs. Rising unemployment and a sharp slide in the ruble have driven discontent across Russia and the Kremlin fears the deteriorating economic situation could lead to public unrest. With domestic car production suffering, the government this month announced higher import tariffs on automobiles, prompting several protests. The demonstrations have been most vehement in Vladivostok, Russia's largest Pacific port, where nearly all private cars are imported from Japan. Hundreds rallied in the city Saturday for the second weekend in a row and demonstrators hoped to rally again on Sunday. But authorities refused to authorize the demonstration and hundreds of riot police blocked off the city square where it was planned. Soon after, some 500 people gathered around a traditional Russian New Year's tree on Vladivostok's main square, singing songs and dancing. It was unclear how many were thwarted demonstrators, and there were no placards or signs of political protest, but riot police demanded that people disperse. Police -- some shipped in from Moscow, some 9,300 kilometers (some 5,750 miles) to the west -- began violently hauling men and women into waiting vans as people chanted "Fascists!" and "Shame! Shame!" An Associated Press reporter watched as several people who resisted were beaten with truncheons, thrown to the ground and kicked. Several parents were detained as their children watched. "Riot police encircled the group ... even those just passing by, and they started taking people away without any sort of comment," said Olga Nikolaevna, a 62-year-old pensioner who witnessed the incident. An AP reporter saw at least 10 journalists detained by police, who demanded several turn over videotapes and photo memory chips and wrecked a Japanese TV crew's video camera. Some journalists were beaten and kicked, including an AP photographer. Regional police officials said they were forbidden from saying how many people were arrested, but protest organizers and witnesses counted more than 100. Protests over the car tariff increase were held in more than a dozen other cities, with motorists driving about their cities in long columns with flags waving. In Moscow Sunday, around 200 people gathered for an authorized demonstration at a central square as riot police waited on side-streets. National TV channels, which are state-controlled, ignored the demonstrations. The Kremlin has sidelined political opponents and put tight controls over civil society and the media, rolling back many post-Soviet freedoms. But in recent weeks, migrant workers protested wage arrears in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg and pensioners took to the streets in the Siberian town of Barnaul to protest the withdrawal of discounted fares on public transport. Domestic and foreign car companies' announcements of production cutbacks in Russia and warnings of potential layoffs have added to the Kremlin worries. The industry altogether employs more than 1.5 million workers nationwide. While auto industry workers have applauded the tariff increase, Russian consumers and others involved in the $30.5 billion car import business have not. Many Russians say they have a right to buy what they want on the free market and do not want to pay to support the Russian auto industry.
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