Moscow's security authorities have not authorized a rally next week on the results of the all-Russian constitutional amendment vote due to the coronavirus restrictions on public events, Vasily Oleinik, the deputy head of the Moscow department for regional security, told Sputnik on Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th June, 2020) Moscow's security authorities have not authorized a rally next week on the results of the all-Russian constitutional amendment vote due to the coronavirus restrictions on public events, Vasily Oleinik, the deputy head of the Moscow department for regional security, told Sputnik on Friday.
Left-wing activist Sergei Udaltsov said earlier in the day that the rally scheduled for July 4 was given a go-ahead by Moscow City Hall.
"The Moscow Department of Regional Security and Anticorruption Activities received a notice from a group of citizens on the holding of a public event in downtown Moscow on July 4, 2020, in the form of a rally with the number of participants up to 1,000 people," Oleinik said.
The official noted that the possibility of holding the event in a specially designated place in Moscow's Sokolniki Park could only be reviewed if the high alert due to COVID-19 was removed.
"In order to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the city of Moscow, on the basis of presidential decree No. 239 of April 2, 2020, ... sports, public and other mass events are prohibited, and therefore the holding of this event cannot be authorized," Oleinik added.
Announced in January by President Vladimir Putin, the vote on the constitutional amendments was initially set for April 22 but was postponed due to the epidemiological situation. Polling stations began accepting Russian citizens on Thursday morning and will remain open until July 1.
