to call on
President Vladimir Putin not to stay in power indefinitely, in the first
major protest by the Russian opposition since the Kremlin chief
announced controversial plans to change the constitution.
The
rally marked five years since the assassination of opposition
politician Boris Nemtsov, but its organizers also wanted the event to
send a message to Putin after he proposed major constitutional changes.
Organizers,
including the country's most prominent opposition leader, Alexei
Navalny, called for a mass turnout to show Putin that he must not
consider staying in power by any means when his current mandate ends in
2024.
Moscow
authorities gave permission for the rally — after a succession of
demonstrations urging fair elections last summer were roughly
dispersed — and the street was packed by a flow of protesters, an AFP
correspondent said.
"The Putin regime is a threat to humankind," said the slogan on one placard next to a portrait of Nemtsov.
"Putin's policies are based on total lies," said another, quoting the liberal politician who was assassinated in central Moscow on February 27, 2015.
"Russia without Putin!" the crowds chanted repeatedly as they marched.
The
White Counter monitor, which counts attendance at protests, said 22,300
people took part in the march. The Interior Ministry said 10,500 took
part.
Constitutional overhaul
Putin,
who has dominated Russia for two decades, in January unleashed a
political storm, proposing an overhaul of the constitution, the first
changes to the basic law since 1993.
Analysts
see the plan as beginning preparations for succession when Putin's
fourth presidential term ends in 2024, while the opposition says the
Kremlin strongman wants to remain leader for life.
"I
think that this is a crime, that it is mocking the constitution,"
said pensioner Semyon Pevzner, 75. "The only aim is to stay in power by
any means possible."
Putin
first came to power as prime minister in 1999 under Boris Yeltsin
before becoming president in 2000. He served the maximum two consecutive
terms between 2000 and 2008 before a four-year stint as prime
minister.
He
returned to the Kremlin in 2012 for a newly expanded six-year mandate
and was re-elected in 2018. But opponents fear he could remain Russia's
number one even if the job of president nominally goes to someone else
in 2024.
Kseniya Telmanova, 21, a
student, reflected that Putin had been president for her whole life,
except her first few months. "Probably those were the best months of my
life," she said, laughing. "The leaders should fear the fact they can
lose power."
Russia is planning to hold a referendum on the constitutional amendments on April 22.
Greater turnout
One
of the organizers of the Moscow protest, opposition leader Ilya Yashin,
said the event had shown an "important dynamic" in that more people had
turned out than at a similar anniversary event last year.
Asked
whether the opposition was planning any more protests soon, he said: "I
don't know so far. This was the main event we had been preparing."
Around
2,000 people gathered for a similar demonstration in Saint Petersburg
on Saturday, clutching flowers, portraits of Nemtsov and banners
reading, "They feared you, Boris."
"This
is basically the only chance we have to go out and say that we are
against what is going on in the country and against this police state,"
said Galina Zuiko, 55.
Nemtsov — one
of Putin's most vocal critics and a former deputy prime minister in the
Yeltsin government — was shot and killed on a Moscow bridge near the
Kremlin.
In
2017, a court found a former security force officer from Chechnya
guilty of his murder and sentenced him to 20 years in prison. Four other
men were found guilty of involvement in the killing.
But Nemtsov's family and allies insist the authorities have failed to bring the masterminds to justice.
"We
have not seen any major progress" in the probe, Navalny said in brief
comments to pro-opposition channel TV Rain. "We will continue to turn
out [every year] until this case is solved."
VOA