U.S. State Department condemns Russian crackdown on large, peaceful protests

(Image credit: CNN/YouTube)

published 27 March 2017

Russians turned out on Sunday for anti-corruption demonstrations in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and about 100 other cities throughout Russia, in the biggest show of force since a wave of anti-government demonstrations in 2011 and 2012. Anti-corruption crusader Alexei Navalny, whose Foundation for Fighting Corruption called for the protests after publishing information about Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's allegedly ill-gotten luxury lifestyle and properties, was one of the 500-800 people arrested in Moscow alone. There were no overall numbers of arrests or official estimates of how many protesters turned out across Russia, and Russian state news TV channel Rossiya-24 ignored the protests completely on the evening news.

On Sunday evening, the U.S. State Department condemned the crackdown on the peaceful, unsanctioned protests. "The Russian people, like people everywhere, deserve a government that supports an open marketplace of ideas, transparent and accountable governance, equal treatment under the law, and the ability to exercise their rights without fear of retribution," said State Department spokesman Mark Toner. The department also tweeted that it "condemns detention of 100s of peaceful protesters" in Russia, calling it "an affront to democratic values."

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer retweeted the State Department's condemnation, but so far President Trump has remained silent. Protests and arrests were reported in Siberian towns, the far-east port of Vladivostok, Dagestan, and large cities like Novosibirsk, Tomsk, and Krasnoyarsk. You can watch CNN's report of the Moscow protest below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.