16 June 2004 12:25
Radicals protest against Kremlin`s Faberge egg display
[Presenter] National Bolshevik Party activists staged a protest against a display of Faberge Easter eggs in the
Patriarch's Palace in the Kremlin this morning, our radio is told by the head of the National Bolsheviks'
Moscow branch, Roman Popkov.
[Popkov] We reckon that it is the utmost cynicism and immorality to display diamonds and knick-knacks to the people
at a time when social benefits are being cut, at a time when war veterans are desperate, at a time when the majority of
Russia's population live in grinding poverty. Seven National Bolsheviks chained themselves to the doorway leading
into the exhibition hall and their T-shirts were emblazoned with slogans: Diamonds to the people and Down with tsar
Putin! The event lasted for about 20 minutes. Now they have all been seized, it goes without saying they were brutally
beaten up and logically they should by now have been delivered to the Kitay-Gorod internal affairs department.
[Presenter] Several minutes later, Popkov told us that the participants in the event are currently in the
headquarters of the Kremlin's Federal Bodyguard Service, where FSB [Federal Security Service] operatives are
interrogating them.
[Ekho Moskvy radio] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
