After months of standoff with the Moscow government, Russian human rights activists will gather for their first sanctioned rally in downtown Moscow's Triumfalnaya Square on Sunday.
Protestors attempt to hold rallies on the square on the last day of every month that has 31 days, in honor of Article 31 of the Russian Constitution, which guarantees freedom of assembly.
Requests to sanction the rallies were invariably turned down by former Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov, who was recently sacked. New Mayor Sergey Sobyanin sanctioned this month's rally last week, but gave permission for 800 activists to take part, instead of the requested 1,500.
The sanctioned event would gather activists from three human rights group — the Moscow Helsinki Group, the Memorial human rights center and the All-Russia public movement "For Human Rights."
"We are ready to hold the meeting under these terms," leading activist Lyudmila Alexeyeva said. "It is an achievement that we have been able to accept the terms of the authorities, and I hope the meeting will run peacefully."
She said she gave her consent to the authorities' terms because she saw it "as a first step towards settling the Triumfalnaya Square standoff under the new mayor."
Alexeyeva added that the authorities had guaranteed safety for all participants of the sanctioned rally.
Two key opposition figures, Eduard Limonov and Konstantin Kosyakin, have not submitted to the terms and are still insisting that the requested number of 1,500 should be allowed to gather.
They announced plans to gather 2,000 activists for an unsanctioned rally in the other part of the square.
"Limonov is displeased with the fact that the rally was sanctioned this time, so he put forward additional demands of various sorts," analyst Gleb Pavlovsky told RIA Novosti.
MOSCOW, October 31 (RIA Novosti)
