Russia's Putin signs anti-protest law before rally

By Gleb Bryanski | Reuters

ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law on Friday a bill that will dramatically increase fines for people who take part in protests that violate public order rules, just days ahead of the next planned rally against his 12-year rule.

Putin told a meeting of top judges in his native St. Petersburg that he decided to sign the bill despite objections from his own human rights adviser, Mikhail Fedotov, who asked the president to veto it.

Participants in protests where public order is violated could now face fines of 300,000 roubles ($9,100) - more than the average annual salary and up from 1,000 roubles. The organizers of such rallies could be fined up to 1 million roubles.

Putin, who has largely ignored a wave of protests that weakened his grip before his return to the presidency, said the law would prevent demonstrations from turning into the sort mass unrest seen in Europe, with cars being burnt and stores looted.

"By guaranteeing some citizens the right to express their opinions, including on the streets, society must protect other citizens from radicalism," he said.

Opposition leaders said the Kremlin rushed the law through so it could be in place before an opposition demonstration planned for Tuesday and say the bill could radicalize the opposition movement.

Just hours after the law was signed, Putin's opponents took to Twitter pledging their support for the rally, dubbed the March of Millions as a sequel to the violent 20,000-strong protest on the eve of Putin's third presidential inauguration last month.

"Putin signed the law on demonstration fines. But it won't stop me personally," said a tweet from a founder of Moscow gay parade Nicolai Alexeyev, reflecting a popular message.

Rights activist Lev Ponomaryov said he believed Putin wanted to put pressure on would-be protesters by signing the bill. "I think this may cause the opposite reaction. I mean people will nevertheless come out into the squares," he said in a statement.

The Moscow mayor's office approved the route for a 50,000-person march along a central ring road followed by a demonstration on Prospekt Sakharova, the site of one the first anti-Putin protests in December, hours after the law was signed.

RIGHTS DEFENDERS OBJECT

Fedotov, chairman of the presidential Civil Society and Human Rights Council, urged Putin at the end of May to veto the law, before it was approved by both houses of parliament.

This week, Fedotov's council issued a nine-page statement offering expert conclusion on the law, which it said contradicted Article 31 of the Russian constitution that protects citizens' freedom of assembly.

"The law's main defect is that in substance it suggests criminalizing the procedure of using the basic constitutional right - the right to peacefully assemble," the statement said.

Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Fedotov would continue to chair the human rights council for now but criticized him for making his views public before the president had a chance to hear his objections.

The spokeswoman of EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton, Maja Kocijancic, said on Thursday the European Union was also concerned over the possible implications of the new bill.

"The recent civic activism in Russia offers a valuable opportunity for the state to engage in a constructive dialogue with civil society, which could benefit both sides," she told journalists at an EU briefing.

"In our view regulations that discourage civic engagement are not conducive to achieve this objective," she said.

In a sign he would brook no Western criticism on human rights or democracy, Putin, a 59-year-old former KGB officer, defended the fines as being in line with European norms.

(Additional reporting by Nastassia Astrasheuskaya; Editing by Alison Williams)

Rick Santorum Launches Conservative Group

By Shushannah Walshe | ABC OTUS News
Fri, Jun 8, 2012

Rick Santorum announced Friday morning that he will be launching a new group that he will lead to promote conservative issues that were hallmarks of his campaign. The former presidential candidate is starting "Patriot Voices," to make sure the topics he spoke about daily on the campaign trail stay as part of the national debate.

"One of the things that we found as I traveled around the country is that people came up to me a lot and said…I was out there speaking about things that gave voice to their concerns on a lot of issues," Santorum said on Fox News this morning. "People are concerned about the economy, people are concerned about national security, but I think a lot of people have basic anxiety about where America is going and I tried to talk about those during the campaign: the adherence to the constitution and the importance of understanding where our rights come from and who we are as a people and a culture and how that is being changed by this administration on the issue of religious liberty or life or marriage."

Santorum teased the announcement earlier in the week and ABC News reported Tuesday he would be forming the 501 c(4) organization. In a statement the group said they "will mobilize one million conservatives around this country who are committed to promoting faith, family, freedom and opportunity." Through this group he can stay focused on these issues he cares the most about while trying to remain relevant as the de facto leader of social conservatives in this country.

The former Pennsylvania senator, in an interview broadcast from Chicago where he will speak at CPAC Chicago late today, said he wants to give a voice to "people left behind by both parties" and promised to "hold campaigns accountable."

Santorum said the group would also help out Mitt Romney's campaign and "make sure Mitt is the next president of the United States and that we get rid of the scourge that has been the bane of the economy and the country which has been Barack Obama and his administration."

When asked if Santorum only endorsed the presumptive GOP nominee in a late night missive because the meeting between the two in Pittsburgh last month went poorly, Santorum said no and instead it was to make sure his endorsement was in his supporters' email boxes first thing in the morning and said the meeting "went exceptionally well."

"We had a great discussion about exactly the issues that we will be talking about with patriotvoices.com. It's about the issues that are going to connect with ordinary Americans who are feeling left out of the political process that see both parties talk past each other and no one trying to really get back to the basic principles of our country and unify America going forward," Santorum said.

Although this is a new group, the press release said it will "work closely with the Red White and Blue fund to offer financial and other political support to candidates who will stand up for conservative values."

The RWB Fund is both Santorum's superPAC and Santorum's leadership PAC, a legal hybrid political action committee now that he is no longer a candidate. Patriot Voices will also work much like a leadership PAC: promoting these faith and family issues and backing like-minded candidates.

The release laid out exactly the issues the new organization will be focused on: defeating Barack Obama; advocating policies that "encourage traditional marriage, support children and free enterprise. Healthy families help produce a healthy economy;" and supporting both the military, veterans, and Israel while trying to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. Patriot Voices will also work to try and repeal the president's health care plan as well as supporting the manufacturing plan that was a hallmark of Santorum's campaign. The group will also focus on restricting abortion rights while also "standing up for the most vulnerable among us" including "the disabled, the elderly, and the poor."