March 11, 2004

Dozens of protesters gathered in downtown Moscow to call for "a Russia without Putin", some demanding a boycott to Sunday's presidential election and others supporting liberal contender Irina Khakamada.

The protest against "dictatorship" they claim President Vladimir Putin has set up was organised by the non-governmental organization For Human Rights, which supports a boycott of the election, and Russian Radicals who champion Khakamada.

The central Pushkin square saw a mixed crowd, ranging from rights defense activists like Memorial to Communist militants to young members of the reformist Yabloko party, which also called for a boycott.

"All to dacha on March 14," demanded a slogan brandished by two Yabloko supporters, who planned to set up another protest Thursday at the same spot together with young Communists.

Other slogans -- which passers-by met with indifference -- included "Stop the war in Chechnya", "Reporters, your silence is support to the war", and "Free (Mikhail) Khodorkovsky" -- former chief of the Yukos oil giant jailed last year.

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