Vladimir Putin ‘gravestone’ erected in Russian city in protests at massive crackdown on internet rights
The mock 'tomb' showed the Kremlin leader’s picture and his name with the years 1952 to 2019
VLADIMIR Putin's “gravestone” has been installed in a Russian city to protest against a controversial crackdown on internet rights.
An activist has been detained after his macabre protest against Putin’s threatened plans to curb online freedom.
A gravestone for the Russian president, 66, was erected in the city of Naberezhnye Chelny.
His mock “tomb” showed the Kremlin leader’s picture and his name with the years 1952 to 2019.
Activist Karim Yamadaev - believed to be the author of the mock grave - accuses Putin of “burying” free internet in Russia.
Eyewitnesses said the grave was installed under cover of darkness.
Police rushed to remove it before Yamadaev was detained.
The protest came as Russia rallied in protest at new legal moves seen as putting an Iron Curtain around the country’s internet.
The laws have been claimed to be equivalent to China’s Great Firewall.
All Russian internet and data would be routed through a central hub controlled by the Kremlin.
Putin’s spokesman today accused protesters of “misunderstanding and deception”.
He said that contrary to claims that the new laws aimed at limiting online freedom, “they are designed to ensure the internet’s viability amid potential aggressive steps in cyber space against our country.”
One rally participant claimed Russia’s authorities were "seeking to press the button and cut the country off from the internet”.
However, Putin's spokesman claimed there was a real threat to Russia from the West’s sway over the web.
Internet "CIA project": Putin
Legislators and officials were trying to "secure our citizens from such shutdowns in case of this situation”, he added.
In 2014, Putin claimed that the internet was created as a CIA project.
Since then moves have grown in Moscow for a “sovereign” Russian internet.
Putin explained: "In general, the more sovereignty we have - including in the digital sphere - the better."
He warned Russians: "They [the West] are sitting over there - this is their invention after all - and they're listening, watching and reading everything you say, and they're storing all this information.”
Peskov did not comment on the gravestone protest.
Yamadaev faces a fine of 300,000 roubles (£3,475) or up to 30 days in jail after allegedly flouting a ban on him protesting after a previous breach of the law.
Reuters reports that, on Sunday, thousands of people took to the streets of Moscow and two other cities to rally against tighter internet restrictions, in some of the biggest protests in the Russian capital in years.
Iron Curtain
Lawmakers last month backed tighter internet controls in legislation they say is necessary to pass to prevent foreign meddling in Russia's affairs.
But some Russian media likened it to an online "iron curtain" and critics said it could be used to stifle dissent.
Demonstrators chanted slogans such as "hands off the internet" and "no to isolation, stop breaking the Russian internet".
The rally was joined by around 15,300 people, according to White Counter, an NGO that counts participants at rallies. But Moscow cops put the numbers at 6,500.
"If we do nothing it will get worse. The authorities will keep following their own way and the point of no return will be passed", said 28-year-old protester Dmitry, who declined to give his full name.
Opposition activists in Moscow said on Twitter that police confiscated their banners and balloons.
Russia has in recent years attempted to curb internet freedoms by blocking access to certain websites and messaging services such as Telegram.
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February's bill passed in the Russian parliament on the first reading of three.
It seeks to route Russian web traffic and data through points controlled by the state and proposes building a national Domain Name System to allow the internet to continue functioning even if the country is cut off from foreign infrastructure.
The second reading is planned in March after which, if passed, the bill will need to be signed by the upper house of the parliament and then by President Vladimir Putin.
