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Russia: Crushing Dissent

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Russian political protests.

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

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furious at evidence the elections had been rigged.

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It was an unprecedented challenge to Vladimir Putin.

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The protests were peaceful for months, until this.

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Hundreds were detained on Bolotnaya Square,

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near the Kremlin.

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Dozens were later put on trial for rioting,

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and the arrests continued.

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State officials deny it is a political witchhunt.

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

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Now, even peaceful rallies are suppressed here.

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Everyone now is afraid.

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

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if you go to the demonstration.

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

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is not a sanctioned protest.

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

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of the clashes.

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

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Vladimir Putin's Russia deals with dissent.

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

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Anna had grand plans for her wedding day but the reality

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was unlike anything she'd imagined.

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

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for the first time after his arrest.

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

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and a big, glamorous dress.

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Instead, Anna and Alexei married in prison, just before

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

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political protest that turned violent.

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

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

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of protests on a scale never seen under Vladimir Putin.

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The spark was fraud at the elections, but the anger

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was directed at Russia's leader.

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

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it felt like a Russian Spring.

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But at the entrance to Bolotnaya Square,

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

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and then clashes.

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Then came hundreds of arrests.

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Each side blames the other for starting the violence.

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

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being detained and was set upon by riot police.

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She rushed to his aid.

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

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And here, being dragged away herself.

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Alexei wasn't detained that day.

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He was picked up almost a year later as investigators scrolled

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through video footage.

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And he was accused of attacking police officers.

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Did you see that?

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It's not about hitting at all.

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

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

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26 protesters have now been prosecuted for the serious

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charge of rioting.

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18 have been sent to prison.

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Alexei's own attempts to prosecute the police

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for beating him went nowhere.

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

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

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They were both at the Bolotnaya protests that day.

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

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as a well-known left-wing activist.

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And they are sure the long prison sentences handed out

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were meant as a warning.

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

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right side.

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Everyone.

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You can be a man or a woman.

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

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You can be different political views.

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

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

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

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All he does is try to walk to Red Square.

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

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After the clashes on Bolotnaya Square, the real Russian President

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tightened the rules on demonstrations,

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so even this is banned.

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And Roman knows that breaking the rules repeatedly could now mean

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up to five years behind bars.

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

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

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This time, he only makes it a few metres.

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

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for a long time, President Putin essentially being detained here

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right by Red Square, by the police.

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Of course, it's Roman beneath the mask.

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He only managed to stage his protest for about a minute

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before he was detained.

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The police say it was an unsanctioned protest

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and they are taking him away to a nearby station.

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

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now developed to deal with the consequences of dissent.

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

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

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The venue is filled with reminders of Soviet repression,

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and of the Gulag.

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

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than three years in prison after the Bolotnaya protests.

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Alexander Margolin served three years too,

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and was released in February.

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

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they won't feel forgotten.

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After the event, I meet the former prisoners outside.

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

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

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against rigged elections.

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Rebuilding life since his release hasn't been easy.

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

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and worried about a new wave of prosecutions for political

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posts on social media.

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Four years on from the clashes, a small crowd gathers

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on Bolotnaya Square, to mark the anniversary.

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

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So they are joined by bus loads of riot police.

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This year, Lyosha Polikhovich comes too.

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This kind of policing is clearly helping

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to put people off.

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And this.

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

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standing for a couple of minutes with a protest poster before

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

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to the station.

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There's another man over there.

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

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But even silent pickets are illegal now, if more

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than one person takes part.

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And the fines for violating the protest rules have soared.

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

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

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that this is not a sanctioned protest and that people should

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break this protest up.

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

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from the constitution.

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Article 31, that guarantees Russian citizens the right

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to peaceful assembly.

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

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been transformed into art.

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The script is drawn from interviews with those

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prosecuted after the protest.

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

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The actors unwrap sweets throughout, just as relatives have

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to do for prison food parcels.

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The story of repression, resilience and regret ends

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on a note of defiance.

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Afterwards, there is an extraordinary encounter.

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

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

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The Kremlin today projects an image of strength and stability.

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The Kremlin today projects an image of strength and stability.

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But the mass protests challenge Vladimir Putin like never before.

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The rally on Bolotnaya Square was called for the eve

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of his inauguration.

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He later painted the protests as part of a foreign plot

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to destabilise Russia.

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

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This meeting of the electoral commission is all

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about tackling fraud.

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Russia's top official for human rights is here.

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

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in the Interior Ministry.

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

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elections, and compares them to the mass rallies that toppled

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Ukraine's president over a year later.

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

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

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were too harsh?

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

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it's so hard to stage a protest now?

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

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In fact, the city has never looked more inviting.

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

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to placate protesters.

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But President Putin got a far bigger boost when he annexed

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Crimea from Ukraine.

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Condemned abroad, that move was hugely popular here.

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So, are Russians even worried about their shrinking freedoms?

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

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a demonstration, because our government doesn't let

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to do such things.

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Does that worry you?

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I have enough problems to worry about demonstrations.

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

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but she thinks they are calmer now.

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

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

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Three years apart was tough on all of them.

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

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

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to shout up at his window.

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And now, after a long and frustrating search,

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Alexander has some good news.

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He starts a new job back in publishing on Monday.

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

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about those still behind bars for the protests.

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There were two new arrests just this year.

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

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

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

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Anna had hoped Alexei would be home by now.

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

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

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

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Alexei really understands what country he's going to live

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in when he is released.

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Alexei has been a political activist for years, though.

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

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

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

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when there will be any demonstrations, and like that.

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We are not afraid.

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

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not to get in jail again.

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Of course, once Alexei is back, Anna can finally

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plan a proper wedding.

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

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

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

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

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It was the activist's first time in custody.

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

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at his last protest.

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

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on the edge of Moscow.

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

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

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or whether he plans to carry on his protest.

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Roman emerges, a bit dazed looking.

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But sounding defiant.

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

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Roman says the man asked about his politics and advised him

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to end his protest.

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So I wonder how he's coped.

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

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

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

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

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

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took to the streets to protest against Vladimir Putin

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and were confronted by rows of riot police.

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Good morning.

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