The rallies do not fit into history

Novosibirsk Governor Andrei Travnikov (United Russia) submitted to the regional parliament a bill banning rallies and demonstrations in places “due to the historical and cultural” characteristics of the region. These included squares, squares and parks popular with the opposition, as well as memorial complexes and monuments. Mr. Travnikov is pushing public opposition activity to the periphery, but now we should be wary not of conscious opponents of the government, but of situational protests of generally loyal citizens, the expert warns.

The bill was prepared in order to bring the law “On ensuring conditions for holding public events on the territory of the Novosibirsk region” in accordance with the latest edition of the federal law “On meetings, rallies, demonstrations, processions and pickets.” Let us recall that at the end of 2022, the State Duma expanded the list of places where mass events cannot be held: near train stations, airports, educational and medical organizations, playgrounds, government agencies, etc. Regions were also given the right to independently establish bans if this is due to “historical, cultural or other objective characteristics of the subject.” Andrei Travnikov has now taken advantage of this right.

According to the explanatory note, such places in Novosibirsk include squares – “major transport junctions, near which social infrastructure facilities are located,” as well as “busy pedestrian areas, public transport stops and metro stations.” We are talking, in particular, about Garin-Mikhailovsky, Kalinin and Karl Marx squares. Holding rallies there is fraught with disruption of public order and transport, the document says.

Also, if the project is approved, mass events will be banned in public gardens, parks and “recreational” areas – on Mikhailovskaya Embankment, in Pervomaisky, Teatralny and Narymsky squares (where the monument to the victims of political repression is located), in the square of the architect Kryachkov, at the fountain on Vokzalnaya highway and in the territory adjacent to the state circus. All these places are intended for citizens “focused on recreation and not planning to involuntarily participate in rallies,” the explanatory note emphasizes.

Finally, if the governor’s initiative is adopted, rallies and demonstrations near memorial complexes and monuments that have special historical significance for residents whose relatives and fellow countrymen died during the Civil War and the Great Patriotic War, as well as in local conflicts, will become illegal. In Novosibirsk, in particular, actions at the Monument of Glory in the park of the same name will be banned. The expression “the political position of certain groups of citizens” does not correspond to the established tradition of using this place as a symbol of the courage and fortitude of the people who defended their Homeland, as specified in the explanatory note.

It is worth noting that a similar ban on rallies will affect a number of squares, public gardens and monuments in other settlements of the Novosibirsk region, in particular in the regional centers of Kupino, Barabinsk and Tatarsk, as well as in the village of Kochki.

It is expected that the regional parliament may consider the governor’s bill before the end of this year. United Russia, which has a majority in the Legislative Assembly, does not see any risks here. “We are talking about limiting places for holding actions, but not about making it tougher on anyone,” Igor Umerbaev (ER), deputy chairman of the Committee on State Policy, Legislation and Local Self-Government, explained to Kommersant. “The document is intended to keep the existing infrastructure operational during public events.” According to him, it will still be possible to hold rallies where it is not prohibited.

Independent deputy of the Novosibirsk City Council Igor Ukraintsev believes that there is no need for Andrei Travnikov’s project: “If the authorities wanted to prevent any extremist actions, then it was necessary to prohibit specific organizations from carrying them out.” In his opinion, holding rallies in squares should be allowed, since these are “traditional places” for mass actions, but in the case of parks and squares, “the restriction is logical.”

The ban on actions in the center is a long-standing trend to transfer public events to the periphery, says political scientist Ilya Grashchenkov: “The Novosibirsk governor thus simply removes any opportunity for organizing public politics.” But the danger today is not posed by liberal forces, as it was before, but by generally loyal citizens, an example of which is the recent anti-Jewish protests in Dagestan or attempts to hold actions against indefinite mobilization, the expert adds.

Lolita Belova, Novosibirsk; Andrey Prah