On Saturday, tens of thousands of protesters held big rallies in Moscow and other Russian cities to buck against mass cases of falsification during the recent election and to press demands for new parliamentary elections and wholesale liberalizing reform in Russia.

      In Moscow the protesters rallied on downtown Moscow’s Sakharov Avenue, named after the Nobel Peace Prize-winning late Soviet physicist and dissident Andrei Sakharov. The city's police says there were about 30,000 people within the space authorized for the rally, but opposition leaders say 120,000  came to protest.

       The atmosphere on the rally was calm and friendly, though people with all kinds of political views turned out to express their opposition to the political and social situation in Russia. All attempts of provocation was stopped by the police, which work, according to public's opinion, was faultless this time.

       Many participants of the rally held white balloons and wore white ribbons in lapels as symbols of the protest. The organizers were able to gather people of different ages and social statuses, which were joined by the idea of "the new Russia". Many observers reported that the rally had an expressive anti-Putin character, opposing his plans to return to the Kremlin.

      Besides calling for the fair elections, open registration for all opposition parties by February 2012, the immediate release of all “political prisoners” and the annulment of the December 4 parliamentary election results, the protesters demanded for the resignation of Central Election Commission chief Vladimir Churov.

      The most prominent opposition activists and supporters made their statements, among them former parliamentary deputy Vladimir Ryzhkov, writer Boris Akunin, anti-corruption activist Aleksei Navalny, former deputy prime minister Boris Nemtsov, Former finance minister Alexei Kudrin, social activist Yevgeniya Chirikova, rock musician Yury Shevchuk and TV anchor Leonid Parfyonov through the video link.

      Protests took place in many Russian cities, drawing from several dozen to several thousand people. 

Sources: RIA Novosti Lenta.ru Gazeta.ru Image: azoblog