Article published in La Croix, Le Soir and La Presse between 23 and 27 July 2010.
Перевод на русский от Иносми.ру: Жители Химок на защите леса
Khimki, Russia - In a rare burst of civic engagement in Russia, the inhabitants of a suburban Moscow have stopped the cutting of a wide forest, which must pass a highway. The determination of the people aroused the astonishment and f has raised hopes of a civil society can be heard ... Our correspondent went to meet them.
"We will stay here until they change the plot!" The confident tone, Evgenia Chirikov, the charismatic leader of the Movement for the Defence of the forest of Khimki, speaks to his small army of activists trying to break the crust of the six tents in a camp.
Residents of Khimki, dormitory town of 180,000 inhabitants, are at war for some years. Their enemy: the Federal Highway Agency (Rosavtodor), project manager, and the French firm Vinci, commissioned to build the first section of toll motorway Moscow-Saint Petersburg. According to the current route, the highway bisect the 1000 acres of lush forest, Khimki, threatening the ecosystem of the lung of the capital. far, the story of the inhabitants of Khimki like thousands of citizen protests. The difference is that this operation takes place in Russia, where such an opposition to power is quite rare. For good reason.
The determination of the inhabitants of Khimki has cost dear to one of them. In November 2008, the local journalist Beketov, which supported Evgenia Chirikov and his band, was found near his home, bathed in its blood for several hours. He survived, but had to amputate a leg and several fingers frozen. It keeps the brain can cause major damage and can not pronounce some words. We never knew who had assaulted him, but his friends accuse veiled mayor of their city to have wanted to silence him.
Despite threats, Evgenia Chirikov, who moved to Khimki precisely to escape the pollution of downtown, has never given up.
"We are for highway, but we do not want her to kill the lung of the city, she says. We are fighting not only for ourselves but for all Muscovites. "Moscow is one of the few capitals in the world yet surrounded by lush green belt.
Opposite the camp, logs are strung in front of seven hectares denuded where great oaks stood still a few days ago. Two weeks ago, a member of the movement observed across a poster that said "Warning, logging," near the airport Sheremetyevo. Upon arrival on militants places, migrant workers who cut down trees have refused to show their papers and fled.
Thirty residents of Khimki and other environmental activists So have toiled day and night in the makeshift camp to prevent the resumption. Russian journalists, even those in official media, following the case with interest.
Suspicions of corruption
For more than a week, Rosavtodor merely stated that the cutting was legal, without recourse to the police to try to dislodge the militants. In a statement, the agency said it did not need special permits to cut since last November, the Russian government has transformed 144 hectares of protected forest Khimki usable land.
True. But it is precisely this change in zoning dispute that the militants. Supported by Transparency International, they ensure that the process left room for corruption. According to Russian law, we can exploit a protected area if another option is possible. Activists have proposed an alternative route that would have limited impacts on the forest, but the authorities deem it too expensive.
Even the Liberal opposition did not really believe the opportunities for citizens of Khimki to stop work. On his blog, Vladimir Milov, former deputy minister of energy has become a leader of the opposition movement Solidarnost, has acknowledged that he had long doubted their success. "If they can finally stop this illegal logging, it will be a great victory over the arbitrary power." Towards
5am Friday, fifty hooded youths stormed the camp and beat up activists. As police arrived, the attackers had already fled, and officers arrested ... Environmentalists, for illegally lit fires and tried to prevent their departure by lying down in front of their cars.
By late afternoon, the timber had resumed. But
Evgenia Chirikov and his band had not said their last word. Yesterday they were back in the forest, even stronger, and accompanied by a member of the legendary rock musician Yury Shevchuk opposition. And again, the cup was broken.
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