Putin Bans Protests at Games

[BeyondGeography]

Source: Wall. St. Journal

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed an executive order banning protests in and around the 2014 Winter Olympics site in Sochi for a 10-week period that includes the Games.

The order, which was signed Aug. 19 and printed in Russia's official government newspaper on Friday, says "meetings, rallies, demonstrations, parades and pickets that aren't tied to the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, and that are planned from Jan. 7 to March 21, 2014, should take place at another time."

The order comes amid a Western outcry over a new Russian regulation—known colloquially as the "gay propaganda" law—that prohibits people in Russia from publicly condoning "nontraditional relationships" in front of minors. The law, which levies fines for actions that promote "the social equivalence of traditional and nontraditional sexual relations," has led some in the U.S. to call for a boycott of the 2014 Games. President Barack Obama, however, has ruled out such a move.

The executive order published Friday isn't the first Russian regulation to tamp down on public demonstrations. Russia's Parliament introduced new restrictions on public gatherings in June 2012, stepping up punishments for unauthorized rallies just a few months after mass demonstrations against Putin's rule swept Moscow...

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323980604579030882235090174.html

[onehandle]

1. Bully for him. nt

[davidpdx]

21. Literally

[sakabatou]

2. And Putin wonders why people hate him

[CSStrowbridge]

3. Is it too late...

Is it too late to switch to the backup city? Of course, I really doubt that will happen, because the IOC seems fine with what Russia is doing.

[dipsydoodle]

6. the backup city ?

Which backup city ?

[Pab Sungenis]

10. Vancouver.

They hosted it last and the infrastructure is still there.

[dipsydoodle]

12. That's a strange suggestion.

If they did move it, which I sincerely doubt anyway, they would keep it the European side of the Atlantic.

Aside from that, unless my maths is crook, the number who want it moved, represents less than 0.0002 % of the world population which makes it a bit of a non starter.

[Pab Sungenis]

13. Human rights are not dependent

on population numbers.

[joshcryer]

25. Russian LGBT do not want it moved.

They will disobey this marching order.

I hope in that event you are supportive of them.

[DirtyDawg]

4. I hate...

...to give this away, let alone lose out on the financial benefits of exploiting same, but if somebody were to, secretly, manufacture a number of rainbow-colored gloves, and spirit them into the Olympic Village, one of the all-time effective protests could be replicated. Namely the Black-Power, award platform, gloved-fist-raised, salute from Carlos and Smith...all they would need are a number of athletes willing to thumb their nose, so to speak, at Putin and this Russian 'law'. Of course there would need a lot of participants so that they would have to either arrest the lot of em, cancel the rest of the games, or go along with the whole thing.

[davidpdx]

22. What you do is find someone who will make them for free

Then have them shipped in and distributed for free. If you are going to do a protest, don't have people buy them because then they are funding a cause and can be accused by the Russian Government of doing more than just the protest itself. It is a way to insulate or protect people who choose to participate.

[Gus Lammas]

5. Putin the Putz

[SCVDem]

7. Vancouver awaits

Just do it!

[OldEurope]

8. I really don't like Putin and his politics, but...

... restraining any political activities during Olympic Games is normal.
I don't like this, but it is not a Russian characteristic. It happened in Munich, 1972, too.
What is sad, is that showing you are gay is considered a crime in Russia, and so showing a rainbow flag is considered a political statement.

Boycott would be the thing to do. But then, I'm not interested in Olympic sports anyway. To me it's a mere waste of money with no important impact to anybody's life, except those taxpayers who have to pay for.

[SoapBox]

9. I wish the Olympic Committee would get some "stones"...

And move this...ya, it's VERY late in the preparations but since Russia is one of THE premiere Civil and Human Rights abusers, it's
time for the Olympics to move.

I love the Olympics and have watched/listened faithfully to the Summer and Winter Games for years...this year may be different.

[davidpdx]

23. It won't happen

But this should serve as a warning for other candidate cities in the future. If human rights are at stake then it should be brought up during the bidding process. I know in this case no one outside Russia knew about the new laws, but hopefully in the future people are more proactive about putting pressure on the IOC.

[okieinpain]

11. don't worry, mr. snowden will soon be exposing mr. putin for the whole

world to see.

[Tarheel_Dem]

14. Can you imagine how many recs you'd get if you had replaced the name Putin with Obama? You'd be....

all over the Greatest Page, but DU doesn't want to hurt the feelings of Comrade Snowden's new BFF.

[BeyondGeography]

15. The ironies abound

Anything from RT bashing US tyranny with Snowden's name attached would unleash a veritable recfest, i.e.:

http://rt.com/usa/snowden-father-open-letter-564/

[Tarheel_Dem]

19. Which is why I love the journalist that called out RT as the Kremlin financed, Anti-American Pravda

outlet it truly is. I'm much older than the 18-29 demo that seem to be the only ones who matter nowadays, but there's something wrong when even an effectively dictatorial state like Russia gets more props than our own country. What Lon & son don't acknowledge is that not many countries, especially Russia, would've provided the kind of trajectory for a high school dropout to wind up on the government payroll, earning a six figure salary, living in a luxury bungalow in Hawaii. I guess loyalty is lost on that family.

[msanthrope]

16. Comrade Snowden--I wonder if he will be allowed to go to the Games. nt

[Tarheel_Dem]

20. He may not go to the games, but with all the hustle & bustle, he'll probably take that chance....

to flee to Bolivia. I bet that's the plan. He'll use the Olympics to get the hell out of Dodge.

[Posteritatis]

17. You do know that not every post about Russia is about Snowden, right? (nt)

[DinahMoeHum]

18. Like I've said, this whole situation is BEGGING. . .

for a "Tommie Smith/John Carlos" protest on a podium during the Games.

As for that purse-with-two-legs Putin, he can go suck a puck.

[davidpdx]

24. Putin the bully

[joshcryer]

26. Anyone get their bridges sold?

I know that when Russia said they wouldn't persecute LGBT that a lot of bridges were being offered, I'm just wondering if anyone sold one or not.

[Volaris]

27. Soooo, instead of JUST having a protest,

NOW it can be a legitimate Act of Civil Disobedience. Brilliant of him.

This is NOT a difficult concept. Weilding Power is like holding Water. The tighter you squeeze, the easier it slips from between your fingers.

[blkmusclmachine]

28. .

.