Leaders of the Other Russia Garry Kasparov, Eduard Limonov and Lev Ponomarev, who heads the movement “For Human Rights” could not depart from Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport in Samara where Summit Russia-EU to participate in the March of Dissenters approved by authorities. The police picked out their papers and tickets (for examination, as they were told), so they did not manage to catch the flight.
They had to stay in a waiting room. First Limonov told the journalists that they did not relinquish the hope of getting to Samara by another flight. The March was appointed at 4 p.m. Three hours later leaders of the Other Russia tried to leave the waiting room but the police did not let them. According to Limonov their passes were returned only in five hours, when it was too late and they had mo possibility to be in time for the March.
“When we tried to get through departure registration, airport employees said us that the system did not recognize our tickets” - said irritated Kasparov to the Reuters Agency. The similar explanation was given by the representative of the transport police captain Alexander Adamov. Kasparov said that the captain was “just a puppet” and claimed that everything happened by the order from on high.
“Am I indignant over that? It is ridiculous. Look around, this is your Constitution, that are your Russian laws. Plainclothes people are everywhere, they do whatever they want” - said Kasparov. That’s why, according to him, the president of the Russian Federation should be placed in a row with presidents of Zimbabwe and Belarus.
The flight, where Kasparov and Limonov did not manage to get, was detained for an hour and took off only in 10 a.m. Besides leaders of the Other Russia about 20 people, including two foreign journalists - from the Wall Street Journal and the London Daily Telegraph, stayed in the airport. The system could not scan their tickets either.
In the press service of the transport company the Interfax Agency was told that dissenters did not manage to pass through registration because their tickets aroused suspicion. “Tickets were picked out for examination, it turned out that one ticket was processed on a strange passport” - the representative of the transport police said.
Limonov claimed that they were let go only after the last airplane to Samara had risen from the ground.At the same time representatives of the Linejnoe Department of home affairs said that the documents had been returned at 12 a.m. and there were still two flights to Samara, one at 13:30 p.m. from Sheremetyevo and another at 15:25 from Domodedovo.
In the airport there were also several people from the pro-Kremlin youth movement “Nashi”. They were wearing white medical smocks and mocked at dissenters stuck in the airport. “We defend people from negative emanation Kasparov is emitting” - explained one of them.
Nevertheless dissenters were mentioned on the summit. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that she is anxious for the situation with the Marches in Russia. “I’m anxious for the fact that, as I heard, some people had difficulties with getting here, but I hope they will have opportunity to express their opinion” - she said during the press-conference.
At the same time Vladimir Putin claimed that he had nothing against dissenters. “Personally I have nothing against, they don’t disturb me”, - said the president, - “but everything should be legislative, all actions should be provided according to laws and should not hinder other people to live normally”.
Brilliant words! It’s a pity that the Ours did not heard that, since just recently they favored the normal, quite life of people who live near the Estonian Embassy in Moscow.
