Thousands rally in Russia for 8th straight day of anti-Putin protests

This was a phony referendum, since the constitutional changes had already been made, and there were a couple of hundred items in the referendum, so many who voted for it didn't even know it contained the provision to allow Putin to stay in power for so long.

https://nypost.com/2020/07/18/thousands-rally-in-russia-for-8th-day-of-anti-putin-protests/

By Colleen McPolin
July 18, 2020 | 2:26pm

Tens of thousands gathered Saturday to protest the arrest of a regional Russian governor in an eighth consecutive day of anti-Putin unrest.

Sergei Furgal, governor of the Khabarovsk region, was arrested July 9 for allegedly helping plot the murders of two businessmen and the attempted murder of a third 15 years ago — charges that protestors believe are politically motivated. Frugal beat a Putin-backed candidate for the governorship in 2018.

The protests come after a referendum earlier this month allowing Putin to stay in power for up to 16 more years.

The demonstrations have morphed into a rallying cry against the constitutional change, The Wall Street Journal reported.

“My attitude to Putin is extremely negative,” demonstrator Mikhail Potapenkov, 27, an IT systems administrator, told the Journal. “He seized power [by changing the constitution] and because of this the country can’t develop. Without a constant change of power, there can be no development.”

•••••