21 March 2012

RUSSIA : The Kremlin's Rent A Rally...Detailed.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2109534,00.html?xid=gonewsedit&google_editors_picks=true

TIME : "...when the (Putin) opposition brought 100,000 people onto the streets of Moscow, pro-Kremlin activists tried to match that number, filling a square across town with legions of people chanting slogans in support of Putin. Dueling demonstrations have since become a mainstay of Russian political life."
AND:  "About an hour after Putin addressed the crowd, TIME followed a group of demonstrators into a nearby subway tunnel, where about 100 of them lined up to receive about $10 apiece. Policemen stood by the entire time watching because it is not a crime to pay people for attending a political rally. And as far as moral qualms are concerned, one brigadier on duty that night — not Sergei — told TIME he had none. "It's a paid flash mob," he said, smiling as he declined to give his name. "It's normal."