The Livable Blog

In case anyone is feeling dispirited about stopping the South Fraser Freeway, in an almost unheard of example of protest stopping a project in Russia a series of protests culminating in a banned concert has stopped a freeway project on the outskirts of Moscow. We are not alone, and the tide is turning.

See you on 10/10/10 www.dig4justice.org

MOSCOW (AFP) – President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday ordered the suspension of plans to build a motorway through a forest outside Moscow, in a rare case of the Russian authorities responding to popular protests.

His sudden announcement came after least 2,000 people turned out Sunday for a banned concert in central Moscow protesting plans to build the motorway through the Khimki forest north of the Russian capital.

The protest was much larger than previous opposition protests under the decade-long rule of strongman Prime Minister Vladimir Putin where unsanctioned rallies have been characterised by thin turnouts and police crackdowns.

"Although a decision was taken by the government to build the motorway, people including the ruling party and the opposition, social groups and experts say that additional analysis is needed," Medvedev said.

"I order the government to halt the realisation of the construction and carry out additional discussions," Medvedev added, speaking of the "increased resonance" surrounding the project.

"This decision must be carried out, taking into account the appeals and the worries," he said in a message posted on his video blog.

The numbers at Sunday's protest were undoubtedly boosted by the presence of Yury Shevchuk, a Soviet-era rock star who has become an outspoken Kremlin critic and defiantly sang at the rally.

The order came following an apparently well-choreographed appeal earlier in the day by ruling party United Russia to halt the construction of the road.

It was not immediately clear if Putin -- currently on a highly-publicised trip to the Russian Far East which has seen him chase whales and go bear-watching -- was consulted over the decision.

United Russia, whose overall leader is Putin and which dominates parliament, has become known for consistently rubber-stamping Kremlin policies without quibbles.

"We have different opinions within United Russia about this question. But the situation does not look simple," United Russia's chairman Boris Gryzlov said in a statement.

Activists welcomed the move by United Russia as long overdue but better late than never.

Environmental campaigners have campaigned for months to block the construction of the highway which aims to relieve traffic on the Moscow-Saint Petersburg route but has become a rallying cause for the opposition.

"We are very happy," said Yevgenia Chirikova, the activist who has led the protest movement against the motorway. "But it is hard to explain because until now the authorities were not reacting to the civic protests," she told AFP.

The decision was the latest sign the authorities were keeping a beady eye on the protest movement in Russia after the economic crisis and wildfire catastrophe.
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Full text at http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100826/wl_afp/russiapoliticsenvironmentpoliticsprotest_20100826164612;_ylt=AlxarnDnq4o_YBIi12Ma5PaQOrgF;_ylu=X3oDMTNnNGowN2JvBGFzc2V0A2FmcC8yMDEwMDgyNi9ydXNzaWFwb2xpdGljc2Vudmlyb25tZW50cG9saXRpY3Nwcm90ZXN0BHBvcwMyOARzZWMDeW5