Ket

7-12-11

Ket is a 29 years old girl, who December 6^th was demonstrating in Moscow against the unfair elections and the repression made by the Putin government. In that occasion she was arrested by the police together with her friends and let free the next day. “Ket” is not her real name, but a nickname she uses in her artists’ group Vojna.

Ket, on December 6^th you were demonstrating on Triumfal’naja Square. Why?

Why? And when are we going to have a better occasion? It’s a long time we are waiting to protest against these people who have the power. The way they tricked the election was the last drop.

I noticed the last three demonstration were organized mainly by two political organizations, Drugaja Rossija (The Other Russia) and Solidarnost’ (Solidarity), but on the square at the end there were people not linked with them, like you, in this case. What do you think about this?

As I said before, the main thing is the possibility to demonstrate. Many people don’t know who organized the demonstration in that square at that time, this is not so important: we are protesting against a concrete matter, the way the elections were tricked. It’s a civil right protest rather than a politic one.

What happened the evening on December 6^th, when you came on Triumfal’naja Square?

When just I arrived I looked for my friends, there was a great confusion: the square was occupied by pro-government activists, to make us not to pass. At the end I could reach my group, we stand in the crowd demonstrating, when we created a human chain in 5-6 persons. To make a human chain is forbidden, you couldn’t make groups of more than 3 persons. Some policemen saw us and catch us. We were taken in a truck.

And where they took you then?

So, now the matter start to be interesting: by the law, police can’t keep you closed more than 3 hours without a formal accusation, but the countdown starts only when you get in a police department.

The machine didn’t leave until it was full of demonstrators, we were about 20 persons. After this, we had to wait another hour in the Moscow traffic before we arrived in the outer court of a police department building. In a moment of distraction of the policemen, two boys opened the back door of the truck and ran away. The policemen switched off the engine of the truck and let us wait inside it another hour. It was very cold so we started to shout and they switched on the engine, but left us inside another hour.

Finally we were taken inside the department and police accused us of “resistance to a police officer”. It was 6am, I spent the rest of the morning in jail and they let us free at 1pm.

After this experience you think you are going to come back to demonstrations?

I think in the next days I will concentrate more in the organization of some action with my group. And about the demonstrations… I don’t want to be arrested again, but I can’t not to go. I’ll be more careful.

What would you like will happen after this period of protest?

It would be very fine if we could repeat the elections, admitting who was excluded. In the end it’s not so much what we are asking for: only fair elections.