Russia: Crushing Dissent Our World

Russian political protests.

Four years ago, crowds took to the streets of Moscow,

furious at evidence the elections had been rigged.

It was an unprecedented challenge to Vladimir Putin.

The protests were peaceful for months, until this.

Hundreds were detained on Bolotnaya Square,

near the Kremlin.

Dozens were later put on trial for rioting,

and the arrests continued.

State officials deny it is a political witchhunt.

The protests cast a shadow over President Putin's inauguration.

Now, even peaceful rallies are suppressed here.

Everyone now is afraid.

You can be different political views, but you all can go to jail

if you go to the demonstration.

The riot police have moved in and this man is saying this

is not a sanctioned protest.

I'm Sarah Rainsford and I'm investigating the aftermath

of the clashes.

I'll hear the stories of some of the protesters and explore how

Vladimir Putin's Russia deals with dissent.

So this is how I looked on my wedding day in the prison.

Anna had grand plans for her wedding day but the reality

was unlike anything she'd imagined.

For me it was just a possibility to meet Alexei, to hug him

for the first time after his arrest.

She had thought of a forest theme, lots of family and friends

and a big, glamorous dress.

Instead, Anna and Alexei married in prison, just before

he was sentenced to three and a half years for his part in a mass

political protest that turned violent.

It was this rally in Moscow that changed the couple's lives for good.

It was May 6th, 2012, and they joined the latest in months

of protests on a scale never seen under Vladimir Putin.

The spark was fraud at the elections, but the anger

was directed at Russia's leader.

With Communists, nationalists and liberals side-by-side, to some,

it felt like a Russian Spring.

But at the entrance to Bolotnaya Square,

not far from the Kremlin, there was chaos, a crush,

and then clashes.

Then came hundreds of arrests.

Each side blames the other for starting the violence.

In the midst of all this, Anna says, Alexei tried to stop a man

being detained and was set upon by riot police.

She rushed to his aid.

She is here, the figure on the right with a rucksack.

And here, being dragged away herself.

Alexei wasn't detained that day.

He was picked up almost a year later as investigators scrolled

through video footage.

And he was accused of attacking police officers.

Did you see that?

It's not about hitting at all.

But maybe if you are in Russia and you are visiting protest,

if you touch policeman, it can be also be treated like you hit him.

26 protesters have now been prosecuted for the serious

charge of rioting.

18 have been sent to prison.

Alexei's own attempts to prosecute the police

for beating him went nowhere.

When I meet Anna's parents at their home outside Moscow,

it's clear they're still shocked by what happened.

They were both at the Bolotnaya protests that day.

Anna's family believe Alexei was singled out for prosecution,

as a well-known left-wing activist.

And they are sure the long prison sentences handed out

were meant as a warning.

It's not just left side activists are arrested, not just

right side.

Everyone.

You can be a man or a woman.

You can be 20 years old, or 45 years old.

You can be different political views.

But you all can go to jail if you go to the demonstration.

To see just how difficult it's become to protest here,

we've been following Roman, the man in the Putin mask.

All he does is try to walk to Red Square.

His sign declares he's not afraid of a Draconian new law.

After the clashes on Bolotnaya Square, the real Russian President

tightened the rules on demonstrations,

so even this is banned.

And Roman knows that breaking the rules repeatedly could now mean

up to five years behind bars.

As soon as he steps onto Red Square, the police move in.

But two weeks later, Roman is back with a new Putin mask.

This time, he only makes it a few metres.

This is perhaps one of the strangest sights I've seen in Russia

for a long time, President Putin essentially being detained here

right by Red Square, by the police.

Of course, it's Roman beneath the mask.

He only managed to stage his protest for about a minute

before he was detained.

The police say it was an unsanctioned protest

and they are taking him away to a nearby station.

When I visit the Sakharov Centre, I realise a whole support system has

now developed to deal with the consequences of dissent.

Inside, there's an event in full flow, in aid of political prisoners.

The Russian human rights group Memorial has 91 on its latest list.

The venue is filled with reminders of Soviet repression,

and of the Gulag.

Awaiting his own turn on stage, Lyosha Polikhovich, who spent more

than three years in prison after the Bolotnaya protests.

Alexander Margolin served three years too,

and was released in February.

He's here, writing letters to those still behind bars, so that like him,

they won't feel forgotten.

After the event, I meet the former prisoners outside.

Lyosha is a left-wing activist, but Alexander is in publishing

and wasn't involved in politics before joining the mass protests

against rigged elections.

Rebuilding life since his release hasn't been easy.

Both men admit they are cautious now after their time in prison,

and worried about a new wave of prosecutions for political

posts on social media.

Four years on from the clashes, a small crowd gathers

on Bolotnaya Square, to mark the anniversary.

But the activists don't have permission to protest here.

So they are joined by bus loads of riot police.

This year, Lyosha Polikhovich comes too.

This kind of policing is clearly helping

to put people off.

And this.

So the girl who's just been bundled away by the police was probably

standing for a couple of minutes with a protest poster before

she was picked up by the police, and she is being taken now

to the station.

There's another man over there.

His sign says, "Freedom to the heroes of May 6th".

But even silent pickets are illegal now, if more

than one person takes part.

And the fines for violating the protest rules have soared.

Obviously they've been given the signal to break this up.

The riot police have moved in and this man here is saying

that this is not a sanctioned protest and that people should

break this protest up.

As the police drag protesters away, a man begins quoting at them

from the constitution.

Article 31, that guarantees Russian citizens the right

to peaceful assembly.

In a tiny Moscow theatre, the story of Bolotnaya Square has

been transformed into art.

The script is drawn from interviews with those

prosecuted after the protest.

And with their families dragged into this real-life drama.

The actors unwrap sweets throughout, just as relatives have

to do for prison food parcels.

The story of repression, resilience and regret ends

on a note of defiance.

Afterwards, there is an extraordinary encounter.

Anna takes to the stage to answer questions as a prisoner's wife.

Alongside her, an ex-police officer who was on duty that day.

The Kremlin today projects an image of strength and stability.

The Kremlin today projects an image of strength and stability.

But the mass protests challenge Vladimir Putin like never before.

The rally on Bolotnaya Square was called for the eve

of his inauguration.

He later painted the protests as part of a foreign plot

to destabilise Russia.

Now, the country is gearing up for new elections next month.

This meeting of the electoral commission is all

about tackling fraud.

Russia's top official for human rights is here.

But that job is now held by a major general who spent 27 years

in the Interior Ministry.

Afterwards, she tells me she opposed the protests after the last

elections, and compares them to the mass rallies that toppled

Ukraine's president over a year later.

It is a hint of Vladimir Putin's real fear.

But doesn't she think the prison sentences for the protests

were too harsh?

So, is Russia's chief guardian of human rights at all concerned

it's so hard to stage a protest now?

The streets of Moscow are certainly not seething with open discontent.

In fact, the city has never looked more inviting.

Some saw the makeover of places like Gorky Park as an attempt

to placate protesters.

But President Putin got a far bigger boost when he annexed

Crimea from Ukraine.

Condemned abroad, that move was hugely popular here.

So, are Russians even worried about their shrinking freedoms?

I think now it's quite difficult to organise or stage

a demonstration, because our government doesn't let

to do such things.

Does that worry you?

I have enough problems to worry about demonstrations.

Larisa tells me many of her friends joined the protests in 2012

but she thinks they are calmer now.

I meet up with Alexander Margolin again in the park, where

he is making the most of time back with his family.

Three years apart was tough on all of them.

For several months after his arrest, Alexander wasn't allowed visits,

so the family found out where his cell was and they came

to shout up at his window.

And now, after a long and frustrating search,

Alexander has some good news.

He starts a new job back in publishing on Monday.

Returning to normal is Lena's priority, too, although she worries

about those still behind bars for the protests.

There were two new arrests just this year.

Over at her parents' house, Anna is preparing for a prison visit.

She gets three days alone with her husband every three months.

So she is busy cooking all his favourites to take with her.

Anna had hoped Alexei would be home by now.

He was just refused parole for failing to greet a prison guard.

Still, her next trip should be for Alexei's release in October.

This is the thing I feel nervous about, because I'm not sure that

Alexei really understands what country he's going to live

in when he is released.

Alexei has been a political activist for years, though.

Anna tells me that is what drew her to him in the first place.

We feel ourselves part of political protest, because we live here.

And I'm not sure that we will be just sitting at home

when there will be any demonstrations, and like that.

We are not afraid.

But we will, of course, try to understand what risk we have,

not to get in jail again.

Of course, once Alexei is back, Anna can finally

plan a proper wedding.

As for Roman, his campaign to get sent to prison is well underway.

We catch up with him in a Moscow court, after he got 20 days

in police custody for his last protest in a Putin mask.

This was Roman's appeal against detention, and it failed.

It was the activist's first time in custody.

It's now almost exactly 20 days since Roman was detained

at his last protest.

All that time he's been held at this police facility

on the edge of Moscow.

We've come here because we want to meet him as he comes out,

and to find out how his time here, what kind of impact that had on him,

or whether he plans to carry on his protest.

Roman emerges, a bit dazed looking.

But sounding defiant.

And he reveals he's had a visit from Russia's security service.

Roman says the man asked about his politics and advised him

to end his protest.

So I wonder how he's coped.

And sure enough, a week later he's back.

But Roman's chances of forcing a legal reform are looking slim.

One friend is already serving time in prison under the same law.

The stifling of even this lone voice of dissent is a stark sign of just

how much Russia has changed in the four years since vast crowds

took to the streets to protest against Vladimir Putin

and were confronted by rows of riot police.

Good morning.