Moscow--The slogans on the placards ranged from the innocuous to the obscure but the response from the Russian authorities was swift and harsh.
After several thousand marched last week through the Siberian city of Novosibirsk holding signs that included "Stop taking offence" the event organiser Artyom Loskutov was quickly jailed for 10 days and branded a "prisoner of conscience" by Amnesty International.
Loskutov, a performance artist who likes to poke fun at what he sees as the Russian authorities' heavy-handed approach to dissent, stages his parody protest each year.
But his failure to obtain permission landed him in jail.
The clampdown on the demonstration is seen by observers as the latest example of what they call a concerted official campaign to stamp out any voices that might be seen as questioning the Kremlin's tight grip.
It's in this atmosphere that many opposition activists and liberal-minded Russians are choosing to vote with their feet and leave their homeland rather than stay and risk prison or worse.
Russia's tiny opposition is still reeling from the brazen assassination of one of the country's leading Kremlin critics, Boris Nemtsov, who was gunned down within sight of the Kremlin in late February.
Now some of the most vocal activists have packed up their bags in fear not only for themselves but for their families.
AFP
