Russian Orthodox join election fraud protests
After a week of mounting protest over alleged fraud in Russia's
parliamentary election, the Russian Orthodox Church has called for
stricter control over the election process—evidence of the extent to
which anger has spread in Russian society.
A demonstration in
Moscow December 10 drew 25,000 people, police said, but opposition
leaders said the numbers were at least 80,000. Smaller protests were
held across Russia. The voice of the church could play a significant
role as activists plan for demonstrations on successive Saturdays.
"I
think that the situation that has taken shape must stir the authorities
and various social forces to begin a national dialogue on the format of
the electoral process and civic control over it," Archpriest Vsevolod
Chaplin, the Moscow Patriarchate's most prominent spokesman, told
Pravmir, a widely cited Orthodox news site, after the demonstration.
