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NO. 11 (1803) САНКТ-ПЕТЕРБУРГ-ТАЙМС WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2014 WWW.SPTIMES.RU YELENA IGNATYEVA / AP YELENA IGNATYEVA A person walks outside the head office of Bank Rossiya in St. Petersburg. The lender was put on the U.S. Treasury’s sanctions list because of its owner Yury Kovalchuk, causing Visa DECLINED and MasterCard to suspend services. With about $10 billion in assets, Rossiya is the 17th-largest bank in Russia and maintains numerous ties to the U.S., Europe and elsewhere. LOCAL NEWS FEATURE Annexation Rally St. Petersburg TRAVEL From Above Dubai’s Bid For Fashion World Credibility An intrepid traveler sends his camera aloft to capture High fashion takes center Opposition claims rally was unique images of the city stage in Dubai. Page 18. led by civil servants. Page 2. from on high. Page 6. LocalNews www.sptimes.ru | Wednesday, March 26, 2014 ❖ 2 Opposition Claims Rally Led by Civil Servants By Sergey Chernov Mariinsky Theater opera singer Vasily THE ST. PETERSBURG TIMES Gerello. A brass band and an accor- Opposition and human rights activists dion player playing military marches have stated that municipal deputies and patriotic songs were seen among and employees of state-owned enter- the crowds. prises were instructed to attend or send The first speaker said that taking a number of people to a rally in support Crimea was just a small first step in re- of the annexation of Crimea held in the uniting the Russian people wherever city last week. they may be. The rally was part of a national Many of the demonstrators held campaign of rallies that were report- similar-looking placards saying edly held in every major Russian city “Crimea, Welcome Back,” “I Am on Mar. 18, hours after a speech by Proud of My Country,” “Crimea, We Russian President Vladimir Putin in Are With You,” “I Love Crimea” and which he announced the annexation of “Sevastopol, Crimea, Russia.” The Crimea. flags of the political parties United Alexander Shurshev, a municipal Russia, A Just Russia, Rodina, the Lib- council deputy of the Yekateringofsky eral Democratic Party and the Com- municipal district and a member of the munist Party of the Russian Federation Civil Platform party, posted on Mar. 17 were all seen at the rally. a letter that he said had been sent by the Many of those in attendance wore Admiralteisky District Administration so-called St. George’s ribbons, orange to local municipalities. and black striped ribbons which were The letter stated that a “city meet- introduced in 2005 as a symbol for the ing” would be held on Konyushennaya / SPT CHERNOV SERGEY U.S.S.R.’s victory in World War II. The Ploshchad at 5:30 p.m. on Mar. 18 and Official figures put the number of demonstrators at the pro-annexation rally on Konyushennaya Ploshchad at 35,000. rally lasted less than 40 minutes, but instructed the heads of municipal units many began to depart earlier. located within Admiralteisky District to of state-owned enterprises to these Meanwhile, others have come for- An employee of Polyclinic No. 107 According to Shurshev, many Rus- “organize the participation at the event kind of rallies, but this is the first time ward to confirm that people were being in the Krasnogvardeisky District, iden- sians support the annexation of Crimea. of deputies of the municipal council and that I received such a letter,” Shurshev recruited for the rally. tified as Maria Ivanovna, told the sta- “I was surprised that the authori- members of the local administration said. Daniil Ken, a member of the RPR- tion that her institution was ordered to ties continue to gather people for ral- numbering 15 people.” According to Shurshev, the Admi- Parnas party who works as a psycholo- send three people to the rally. lies the way they have grown accus- The letter went on to state that infor- ralteisky District Administration re- gist at Lyceum No. 344 in the Nevsky “I refused, saying that it wasn’t in my tomed to [by issuing orders to state- mation about the participants should be acted to the posting via its official Twit- District, said his institution received job description,” she said. “I was given owned institutions], even if many sup- sent to a district administration email ter account five days later, dismissing it similar instructions. to understand that the matter would be port the cause,” he said. “It only un- address before Mar. 18. The letter did as a “forgery.” “On the eve of the rally I received a passed up the chain of command and dermines the legitimacy of such not specify the purpose of the rally. Shurshev pointed out that an official call from the director who said that the that sanctions would be applied.” events,” said Shurshev. “If such an order was sent to every effectively confirmed the fact that such school was required to send a certain Officially, the rally was organized by The St. Petersburg Times estimates municipality, that makes 2,000 people instructions were sent. number of people to this rally. I don’t an obscure new version of the Rodina that between 8,000 and 10,000 people — not counting all of the state-funded Speaking on Ekho Peterburga radio know how many,” he wrote in an email (Motherland) party and was in support took part in the rally, while the police institutions,” Shurshev wrote. on Mar. 18, the chief of the Admi- Monday. of the results of the Mar. 16 referendum and state-controlled media reported The letter appeared to be an authen- ralteisky District Administration’s orga- “I refused and the director accepted on joining Russia held in Crimea. 35,000 participants. tic official document and bore the name nizational department, Nadezhda Davy- it with understanding, so no, when it “By this action, all those who are not On Mar. 24, Tatyana Dorutina, the of Diana Chapurina, the deputy head of dova, denied sending the instructions. came to the school hierarchy, there was indifferent to the fate of Russia — the chairwoman of the League of the the district administration, as the sender, “We are not the organizers. This is no compulsion.” residents of the city on the Neva — will Women Voters, posted on Facebook a but lacked a signature. not our event. Nobody can force a Rus- Human rights activist Maxim express solidarity with our brothers liv- letter reportedly sent from City Hall Speaking to The St. Petersburg sian citizen to attend a rally. No letter Ivantsov, a teacher of history and social ing in the Crimea and Sevastopol and to Lyudmila Kochetova, the director Times on Monday, Shurshev said that with a signature was sent officially,” sciences, wrote on a social network that support their will,” Rodina said in an of the Admiralteisky District’s Family such instructions are usually sent with- Davydova said. there were quotas for the number of announcement for the rally. and Children Support Center. The text out a signature deliberately, so that the “What about unofficially, with no people each school was expected to The original Rodina, a nationalist was identical to that of the letter sender could later deny his or her in- signature?” a journalist asked. send to the rally. party, folded in 2006 after merging with posted by Shurshev, but the number of volvement. Compelling people to take “I am not aware of this happening,” “The funniest thing was that I saw Sergei Mironov’s Russian Party of Life people requested to be allocated for part in a rally is a criminal offence pun- replied Davydova. myself how they summoned teachers,” and transforming into A Just Russia. It the rally was set at 80. It bore the sig- ishable by up to three years in prison if According to Shurshev, the Admi- he wrote on Mar. 17. was revived as a pro-Kremlin national- nature of Tatyana Smirnova, the act- committed by an official using his or ralteisky District Administration “I saw a woman not even ask the ist party in 2012. ing chief of the city committee on so- her position, according to Article 149 would press charges if such a letter name of the rally, saying that she would The rally on Konyushennaya Plosh- cial support, and handwritten instruc- of the Criminal Code. were a forgery. go if the director needed it.” chad began and ended with the play- tions by Kochetova, ordering the “It has been well known for long “I only posted the letter, but I also Ekho Peterburga also published evi- ing of the Russian national anthem heads of departments to allocate the time that the authorities bring admin- have other proof and the source from dence from two more people who said and featured pro-Kremlin Legislative requested number of people to the istrative personnel and the employees which I got this letter,” he said. they were ordered to attend the rally. Assembly as well as Ukraine-born rally, excluding those on duty. РЕКЛАМА ALL ABOUT TOWN Wednesday, Mar. 26 Over 400 exhibitors will be on hand famed cultural center. The lectures SwissAm Hospitality School students and the event is expected to receive are free and they aim to help listeners will once again take over the Bib- an estimated 30,000 visitors. Attend- increase their self-awareness of the lioteka restaurant on Nevsky Pros- ees can not only look into acquiring city around them. This week’s lecturer pekt for the One Day Restaurant property but also seal the deal for is Anna Nekrylova and her topic is A project. Diners who visit today will their dream home at the event.