Opponents of Russia's new ‘Big-Brother’ law apply for a protest permit in Moscow

Leonid Volkov, the head of the “Society for Internet Protection” and a close ally of the anti-corruption leader Alexey Navalny, has appealed for a demonstration permit in Moscow. Volkov wants to organize a protest against the new “anti-terrorism” legislation signed last week by President Putin. If city officials grant Volkov's request, the rally would take place on Tuesday, July 26, beginning around 6 p.m. local time. The permit application estimates that as many as 2,000 demonstrators would attend.

Volkov argues that the new “anti-terrorism” legislation (called “Big-Brother” legislation by none other than Edward Snowden) violates Article 23 and 24 of the Russian Constitution. 

Yesterday, in a statement on his website, Navalny called the new legislation a “betrayal” of Russia, saying its strict new regulations will sabotage the country's economy, its citizens, and its civil-society organizations.

“The telephone conversations and private correspondence of all people will be recorded in their entirety and made readily available to the security-services crooks and thieves who want to spy on you for profit or simply to satisfy their curiosity,” Navalny wrote, calling on Russians to protest against the law, and sign an online petition that has more than 52,000 supporters at the time of this writing.