Attack on our correspondent in St. Petersburg. Video: Vladimir Molodozhena https://t.co/QgmosOg8lM pic.twitter.com/4IRnRhBM9k
– Mediazona (@mediazzzona) June 30, 2020
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Attacked in a crowded 2291 constituency, where a referendum on amendments to the Russian constitution is taking place.
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The vote on amendments to the Russian constitution, which include provisions that will allow Vladimir Putin to remain in office for two more terms, will end on Wednesday, July 1.
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Frankel arrived at the station because he had received reports that violations were taking place there. The journalist says that the police officer tried to take him out of the station and broke his arm. While Frankel was lying on the floor in pain, one of the observers at the station stepped on his leg and grabbed him by the broken arm.
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“I broke my hand and hit it with my fist. I’m lying on the floor because I can’t move my hand at all, my arm hurts terribly and my fingers barely move,” Frankel said.
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Frenkel was diagnosed with a bone fracture.
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St. Petersburg police later denied that Frenkel had been “attacked.” The police said that the polling station commissioner had asked the police to take the journalist out because he had obstructed the work of the voting commission. Police officers have expelled the journalist from the station by “legal means”.
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At a polling station in St. Petersburg, a policeman and an observer attacked our journalist David Frenkel. David probably had a broken arm https://t.co/QgmosOg8lM pic.twitter.com/jc7SrywZ1f
– Mediazona (@mediazzzona) June 30, 2020
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David Frenkel is taken to the hospital. Video: Ivan Ostapchuk https: //t.co/KSxNHQVgoO pic.twitter.com/bpBonExiks
– Mediazona (@mediazzzona) June 30, 2020
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The week-long referendum on amendments to the Russian constitution, which will allow President Vladimir Putin to remain in office for two more terms, ends on Wednesday.
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To encourage voters to take an active part in voting, local authorities have turned voting into a lottery in many places, offering citizens a variety of valuable prizes, from gift cards to cars and apartments.
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The opposition points out that the vote is in fact a farce of a week without even independent observers.
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On the eve of the closing of the vote, Putin himself encouraged citizens to go to the polls.
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However, the Kremlin’s host avoided mentioning the norms that will allow him to retain power until 2036.
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“We are voting for the country we want to live in (..) and the one we want to pass on to our children,” Putin stressed, unveiling another monument to the fallen in the so-called Great Patriotic War.
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In an effort to distract voters from the Kremlin’s most significant constitutional amendments, the new text of the Basic Law includes articles on patriotic upbringing, the prohibition of same-sex marriage, and faith in God.
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In addition to “ideological” articles, “social” ones are also offered, which, for example, guarantee a minimum wage.
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It is precisely these norms that are actively discussed in the discussion programs of government-controlled television channels, while the “restart” of Putin’s presidency is not actually even mentioned.
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Voters are denied the opportunity to vote on each of the amendments individually, and they can only approve or reject them in their entirety.
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Although agitation for and against constitutional amendments is officially banned, leaflets calling for a “yes” vote are freely distributed in Moscow’s sleeping quarters.
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The authorities are trying to ensure a sufficiently high turnout, using both traditional administrative resources to organize voting in the workplace and “innovative” methods of setting up polling stations in courtyards or stairwells, on park benches or even in car racks or, as the Russians themselves joke, ” on the stump “.
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However, until the last moment, the opposition has not been able to agree on a boycott of the vote, or to participate and vote against the approval of the constitutional amendment.
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Despite the fact that the vote is not even legally necessary for the constitutional amendments approved by parliament and signed by Putin to enter into force, the Kremlin wants to strengthen its legitimacy and has set a goal of supporting them by at least 70% of the electorate.
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Although it is generally forbidden to publish the results of polls in elections until the end of the vote, this time government-controlled sociologists have ignored such subtleties and published the results of polls, which show that the Kremlin is close to achieving its goal.
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Meanwhile, the new constitution is already printed and available in bookstores.
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