AFP

12 June 2012

COPENHAGEN, June 12, 2012 (AFP) – European security body OSCE urged Russian authorities Tuesday to respect the opposition's right to dissent, as tens of thousands of protesters rallied in Moscow against President Vladimir Putin's third term.

"All countries have the duty to respect the dissenting opinion of its own citizens" as well as freedom of assembly and expression, said Matteo Mecacci, who heads the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe's parliamentary committee on democracy, human rights and humanitarian issues.

"Restricting these basic civil and political rights is not the way for any democracy to function and is a dangerous path for the authorities to follow," he said in a statement.

"For these reasons I call on the Russian authorities to stop curtailing freedom of expression and assembly," he said.

Tuesday's so-called March of Millions gathered more than 100,000 people according to event organisers, while the city's police department counted just 18,000 participants.

Analysts view Russia's nascent protest movement as the biggest challenge that has confronted the Putin during his 12-year domination of Russia as both president and more recently as premier.

Putin has preferred to treat the protests dismissively and has repeatedly accused the US State Department of helping to incite the demonstrations through indirect funding.

Tuesday's protest came just a day after the homes of the protest leaders were raided in a police crackdown.

The websites of Russia's main independent news sources meanwhile became inaccessible just as the protesters began gathering at the central Pushkin Square for their march.

The Russian parliament last week passed legislation raising penalties for protesters to 300,000 rubles ($9,000) — more than for any other administrative offence and about the size of Russians' average annual pay.