Russia Steps Up Crackdown as Putin Opponents Plan New Protest

(Bloomberg) -- Russian authorities raided the homes of people involved in a Moscow demonstration, stepping up a crackdown that threatens to be the harshest since officials crushed large-scale protests in 2012.

Interior Ministry officers and Federal Security Service agents were searching for information on electronic devices that proved participation in the unauthorized protest or how it was organized, the state-run Tass news service reported Wednesday, citing an unidentified law enforcement official. More than 1,400 were detained at Saturday's protest that was violently dispersed by police, and at least 60 have been jailed.

The mass searches followed the breakdown of negotiations between officials and opposition leaders about the location for another planned demonstration in the capital on Aug. 3. Police detained a representative of the Libertarian Party political group that had sought permission for the event as he left the talks on Tuesday. He was jailed Wednesday for 30 days for involvement in an earlier protest.

Activists are urging supporters to join the unsanctioned rally anyway, setting up the prospect of renewed clashes with riot police. The wave of dissent was sparked by the authorities' refusal to register numerous opposition candidates for Moscow city council elections in September. The harsh police response comes as President Vladimir Putin grapples with rising discontent among Russians amid a slump in living standards over the past five years.

Many anti-Kremlin activists are already in jail including opposition leader Alexey Navalny, who said he may have been the target of an attempt to poison him in prison that resulted in his hospitalization Sunday for a major allergic reaction. His personal doctor wasn't permitted to visit him in prison on Wednesday, according to his spokeswoman.

‘Dangerous Scenario'

The escalating confrontation is leading to “an extremely dangerous scenario, threatening outbreaks of uncontrolled violence” that may harm hundreds of people, the Vedomosti newspaper warned in an editorial Wednesday. It drew comparison with mass unrest in 1905 that forced Czar Nicholas II to issue his October Manifesto granting civil rights including an elected parliament.

The Kremlin is seeking ways for Putin, 66, to stay in power after 2024, when he has to step down under the constitution. Russia also holds State Duma elections in 2021, with the Kremlin determined to maintain control of the lower house of parliament for the pro-Putin United Russia party that's become deeply unpopular with voters.

Navalny was jailed for 30 days last week after he called for people to join the unauthorized election protest. Other prominent activists including Ilya Yashin and former Duma deputy Dmitry Gudkov were jailed after Saturday's demonstration.

The Investigative Committee on Tuesday opened a criminal case into the protests and characterized them as mass unrest, leaving participants vulnerable to sentences of up to 8 years in prison and organizers facing as long as 15 years. Prosecutors used the same charge in the 2012 crackdown against protesters opposing Putin's return to the presidency, and a court jailed one opposition leader for four and a half years.

The stand-off over the Moscow vote should be viewed as a “rehearsal” for the State Duma polls, said Alexei Makarkin, deputy head of the Moscow-based Center for Political Technologies. While the authorities risk inflaming anti-government sentiment with their heavy-handed tactics, “the problem with decision-making in Russia is the permanent fear of appearing weak,” he said.

Officials offered a small concession Tuesday, when the Moscow election commission agreed to review the application of one rejected candidate, Sergei Mitrokhin of the liberal Yabloko party.

But Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin defended the tough police response to the July 27 rally and said in a TV interview that they will act in the same way on Saturday.

“We will ensure order in the city,” Sobyanin said. “It can't be otherwise.”

--With assistance from Scott Rose.

To contact the reporter on this story: Henry Meyer in Moscow at hmeyer4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Gregory L. White at gwhite64@bloomberg.net, Tony Halpin

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