From the BBC:
“Olga Misik: Russia’s ‘Tiananmen
teen’ protester on front line”
Wearing a protective vest, a
young woman sat in front of Russia's riot police. On her lap was a copy of the Russian
constitution, which she began reading to the heavily armoured police around
her. Behind them was a demonstration calling for transparent Moscow elections,
in which several people were injured. The photo went viral within minutes and
Olga Misik, 17, became a symbol of Russia's pro-democracy movement. Some
compared the image to Tiananmen Square's Tank Man, who stood in a tank's path
in Beijing in 1989. "The situation in Russia is currently extremely
unstable," Olga told the BBC. "The
authorities are clearly getting very scared if they are consolidating armed
forces from different parts of the country to chase peaceful protesters. And
people's mentality has changed, as I can see." Moscow has seen regular
weekend protests against the disqualification of independent candidates in
September elections to the city assembly (Duma). More than 600 detained in
banned Russian protest The authorities, loyal to President Vladimir Putin,
allege that opposition candidates failed to collect enough genuine Olga - who hopes to attend Moscow State
University to study journalism in September - says her protest was not just
about the upcoming elections: it was to highlight a drift away from the
post-Soviet constitution, which valued the rights of Russian people. Olga says
she doesn't support any particular political party. "I am only for myself
and for the people. I have a neutral attitude towards [Alexei] Navalny and
other opposition leaders, but I support what they are trying to do."
Pension protests
Olga Misik was born and grew up
in a Moscow suburb. The middle child in her family, she loved reading. Authors
who spoke of dystopian futures and authoritarian regimes, like George Orwell
and Aldous Huxley, were particular favourites. She excelled at school, getting
straight As, and had an interest in current affairs. But her interest in
politics sharpened last autumn. She was
16 and was watching protests on social media against proposals to raise the
retirement age from 55 to 60 for women and 60 to 65 for men. It spurred her to
join in. "It's not like I'm near retirement
myself, but I saw the injustice in it," Olga says. "I was angry with
the politicians because President Putin himself had promised that he wouldn't
increase it, and then he signed it into law in October 2018." On 27 July
Olga was among thousands of people attending an unauthorised protest in Moscow
against the bar on opposition activists running in the Duma election. Several
prominent opposition leaders were detained ahead of the rally. Sitting
cross-legged - riot police equipped with shields, batons and helmets behind her
- she pulled out her copy of Russia's 1993 constitution and began reading from
it. "I read four sections,"
she says. "An article talking about the right to peacefully protest, an
article saying that everyone can take part in elections, has the right to
freedom of speech and that the people's will and power are the most important
thing for the country." Olga left the scene after the reading, but was
later arrested on her way to a metro station. She was among more than 1,000
protesters arrested as a result of the 27 July rally. She has been detained
four times in the past three months. She says she was peacefully protesting
each time. While the police did not mistreat her, Olga says they denied her a
doctor when she said she felt ill. She was released 12 hours later and faces a
fine of 20,000 roubles (£250; $305) for taking part in an illegal protest.
'I am the exception'
Olga says she is not typical of
young women in the country. "Not many young women in Russia are
politically motivated - only really those who want to go into journalism. I am
the exception, not the rule." Olga does not fear that her
political outspokenness will harm her, but she is slightly worried that, as she
is under 18, she is still dependent on her parents' support. Social services have come to visit her parents
to discuss her protesting. While this makes her parents nervous, Olga says it
will not keep her away from protests and rallies. Meanwhile, Russian prosecutors are seeking to
strip a couple of their parental rights for having taken their infant son to
the demonstration on 27 July, where they handed the baby over to a third person
temporarily. During this turbulent time, Olga says her future is to document
and bear witness to the country's political landscape.
^ This picture (and her story)
says it all. Olga Misik seems like someone who knows what is right and is doing
her best to peacefully achieve that. She also represents a generation of
Russians that is starting to make their voices heard and they are calling for
change within Russia. The Russian Government is more concerned with changing the
outside world and does little for the ordinary Russian within the country:
which has led to millions living below the poverty line and millions more close
to it. The old-guard in power continues to use old Soviet tactics and ways of
thinking to get things done and we all know how that ended in December 1991 –
with the collapse of the whole system. Russia can be a great and stable country
if they focused on their own people first instead of trying to influence and
take over the rest of the world. It will take more ordinary Russians to
stand-up for themselves to make any real change happen and hopefully that will
happy sooner rather than later. ^
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