IN BRIEF

Published: July 25, 2012 (Issue # 1719)

Freedom of Press

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — The head of the St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast police, Sergei Umnov, said that when journalists are detained during mass events, police should release them once the journalists identify themselves.

“After a journalist presents their professional ID to police, that person should be released,” Umnov said last week.

The police chief said that journalists would of course only be released if they had not broken the law. Umnov said that after a July 8 incident during which some reporters were detained during a rally near the city’s Oktyabrsky Concert Hall, he had held personal meetings with the heads of the media outlets whose employees had been detained.

News agency ITAR-TASS reporter Ivan Skirtach and RBC Daily’s Sergei Kovalchenko were detained along with Left Front movement coordinator Sergei Udaltsov and 10 other opposition members on July 8 for defying police orders.

Zenit Seeks Players

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — Luciano Spalletti, head coach of the city’s FC Zenit, said the club needs to strengthen its team and that it will buy new soccer players this year in order to accomplish this goal.

It is possible that one such new player may be former Zenit star Andrei Arshavin, who currently plays for London’s Arsenal, Fontanka.ru reported.

Man Sews Mouth Shut

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — A man holding an individual picket in support of controversial punk rock group Pussy Riot sewed his mouth shut in front of the city’s Kazansky Cathedral on Monday.

Police called an ambulance and handed the protester over to doctors, Interfax reported.

On February 21, several masked members of Pussy Riot performed a “punk prayer” in the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow. The three look set to remain in pre-trial detention for the stunt until at least January 12, 2013.

Roadside Paramedics

St. Petersburg (SPT) — Ambulances should take no more than 30 minutes to arrive at the scene of a car accident in Russia, according to Olga Golodets, deputy prime minister for social issues.

“We’re hoping for the [new] program to be ready by fall. We are calculating where air rescue and ambulance stations should be located in order to minimize the time it takes paramedics to arrive at the scene to less than 30 minutes,” Golodets said last week, Interfax reported.

Golodets said the decision had been made to set up ambulance stations along 40 percent of federal highways.

In Moscow, ambulances arrive at the scenes of car accidents in nine minutes, but it’s hard to achieve similar results in other regions, Golodets said.

Last year 28,000 people died in car accidents in Russia.

Visa Bill Makes Progress

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — A bill on three-day visa-free travel to Russia in order to visit major cultural events will be ready this fall, Olga Golodets, deputy prime minister for social issues, said last week.

The program would likely work for events such as the opera and ballet weeks hosted by St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theater and Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater, as well as for high-profile events at some of the country’s most prominent museums, Golodets said.

The three-day visa-free regime is already in place for foreign tourists traveling by ferry to St. Petersburg and Russia’s Far East.

Stars Made From Sand

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — The 11th International Sand Sculpture Festival opened on the beach of the city’s Peter and Paul Fortress on Friday.

The sculptors began working on their projects on July 12. Among them were artists from Russia, the U.S., Spain, Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Lithuania, France, Mexico, Poland and Turkey.

This year the theme of the festival is children’s cartoons. Among the characters captured in sand are those from popular Russian cartoons as well as Walt Disney creations.

The exhibition is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. until the end of the summer.

Gay Law Applied

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — More than 70 people have already fallen foul of the new law banning the promotion of homosexuality and pedophilia among minors in St. Petersburg, Interfax reported last week.

St. Petersburg police chief Sergei Umnov said 73 people had been reprimanded for promoting homosexuality, and one for promoting pedophilia.