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Rally in support of democracy in Russia to be held in London

30 January 2011 02:03 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. A rally in support of democratic freedoms in Russia will take place on Sunday in front of the Russian Embassy in London, APA reports quoting RIA Novosti.

The participants in the demonstration will commemorate the victims of Monday’s terrorist attack on Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport and call on the Russian public to make conclusions and look deep into the causes of disturbances in Russia, the organizer of the meeting, Andrei Sidelnikov, told RIA Novosti.

The participants will also protest against the "unfair" sentence to ex-oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

The former CEO of the Yukos oil company and his former business partner Platon Lebedev were sentenced last month to 14 years in jail after being found guilty of stealing oil from Yukos and laundering the proceeds. The two men had been nearing the end of their eight-year sentences for fraud and tax evasion from their 2005 trial and will remain behind bars for another six years.

Sunday’s meeting will take place under the auspices of London-based international organization Speak Up! created "in response to the Russian authorities’ systematic attempts to erode the foundations of civil society in Russia," according to a press release published on the organization’s website.

"We are Russian citizens and we want Russia to be a free and democratic country," Sidelnikov, who was once the leader of Russia’s Pora youth opposition movement, said earlier this week during a news conference dedicated to the organization’s launch.

In early February, Speak Up! is planning to organize a similar meeting in Brussels.