From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 09:18:34 EDT To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Gazprom - Picketers win Concessions despite Police Brutality ISWoR would like to thank all those who sent protest messages in support of the Gazprom workers and their families. Here is a report of the outcome. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> RUSSIA INFO-LIST from International Solidarity with Workers in Russia - [EMAIL PROTECTED] ISWoR web-site - http://members.aol.com/ISWoR/english/index.html <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Pregnant Woman Beaten in Protest against Chemical Contamination by Gazprom Residents of the Aksaraisk District [Astrakhan] Picket Gazprom By Oleg Shein Translation G. Shriver and C. Vaughan On Sunday, July 15, 2001, at 8 a.m.-in reaction to violation of an agreement by the management of the publicly-owned company Astrakhan-Gazprom, whereby residents of worker-settlements in the area dangerous to health [near the Gazprom plant] were to be relocated to non-polluted residential areas-the People's Committees of Astrakhan organized the people to form a picket line along the main highway used by Gazprom. Early in the morning, the police began to engage in provocations. For example, they confiscated the driver's licenses of those who parked alongside the picket line on the pretext that � parking within 350 meters (about 380 yards) of a crowd of people is prohibited. They were also [they claimed] taking anti-terrorist measures, etc. Since by 2:00 in the afternoon no negotiations had begun, a group of around 100 persons, almost all of them women, attempted to block the roadway in order to stop only (!) those trucks that transport sulphur for Gazprom. The blocking of the road did not last even five minutes. About 50 police and Gazprom security personnel formed a column and made a "flying wedge" charge, like some sort of Teutonic swine, into the row of people blocking the road. Since the women had joined hands [to hold their position], the police used force. As a result one elderly woman suffered 3 broken ribs, another woman's fingers were broken, and one woman, Mariya Atnagulova, whose pregnancy could not have gone unnoticed and who had a history of miscarriages, was beaten personally by Yarenkov, chief of the Krasnoyarsk* [district?] police. Yarenkov, prior to his appointment as police chief, had been the administrator of the Astrakhan Special Division for Quick Response [the equivalent of a U.S. SWAT team], and he had completed six tours of duty in Chechnya. Ms. Atnagulova was eventually taken by ambulance to a regional hospital. These events were caught on camera by a local oppositional television reporter and were shown on the Monday evening news. It should be noted that the police are prohibited by law from using force against pregnant women. Furthermore, the presence of Gazprom security personnel was in complete violation of the law, since these events took place well beyond the bounds of the Gazprom property. The picket line was forced back to the side of the road and then into a field. During the night from Sunday to Monday, July 15-16, and from Tuesday to Wednesday [July 17-18], the police, while keeping close watch over the picket line, openly consumed alcoholic beverages. They threatened the picketers with the use of "special means of assault" against them (i.e., clubs, dogs, firearms). The police even fired flares into the air. Police officials showed their high level of class consciousness when they explained to the picketers that workers are not permitted to criticize their bosses and that the police were prepared to kill the sisters and mothers of the picketers should the order come through. Rank-and-file police who had served in Chechnya displayed no less enthusiasm against the picketers. None of this is an exaggeration, as I [Oleg Shein] was a witness to it all. On Monday, the following leaders of the People's Committees were arrested: Ms. Menlibayeva, Ms. Dudareva, Ms. Dyakonova and Ms. Kolganova. After they had been detained at the police station for 7 hours (in violation of the legal limit of 3 hours), they were finally arraigned. The judge, however, declared that the arguments presented by the police were insufficient and the case was left open for further examination. Their arrest, however, virtually prevented any negotiations from taking place on Monday, since these leaders of the People's Committees were unable to reach the site of the negotiations in Astrakhan until 5:00 in the evening. On Tuesday, negotiations were conducted with the participation of Governor Guzhvin of Astrakhan Oblast, as well as representatives of Gazprom. But it was not until Thursday [July 19] that the official protocol [or agreement] resulting from the negotiations was signed. During this period the picket line continued to be held in the field and had grown to nearly 400 persons. The protocol [or agreement] resulting from the negotiations lists the following points: 1. The Oblast Administration confirmed that construction will be completed on a 135-apartment building complex by the end of the year. (This building actually is under construction.) 2. Gazprom agreed to provide 200 apartments this year, of which 180 are to be provided to Gazprom employees living in worker-settlements and the remaining 20 to those on a waiting list. 3. The Oblast Administration, which provided 10 apartments in the year 2000, requests that Gazprom provide 10 apartments on account of the same year; 4. The parties to the negotiations confirmed their intention to maintain the same rate of relocation in the year 2002. 5. A detailed Resettlement Agreement is to be signed by September 2001. Once this protocol had been signed, the picketers ended their action. Leading members of the People's Committees and picketers felt that they had achieved the most they could in light of the fact that they were unable to block the roadway and the picket line had been moved to a field. Currently, a trip is being planned to the Black Sea. Should there be enough volunteers for the trip, a bus of activists from the trade union Zashchita and supporters from the People's Committees will leave Astrakhan on Monday. In regard to Yarenkov, an investigation is to be started. Interest in this has been expressed by the authorized representative for human rights in Astrakhan Oblast. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> The RUSSIA INFO-LIST puts out information and analysis from a wide range of sources. If you have something you would like to distribute on Russia Info-List, or want to help in our practical solidarity work, contact: >[EMAIL PROTECTED]< Box R, 46 Denmark Hill, London, SE5 8RZ, England <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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