Kasparov arrested

Former world chess champion Gary Kasparov, who is now deeply involved in Russian politics, was sentenced to five days jail after he was arrested yesterday in central Moscow for organising an unsanctioned rally in protest of Russian president Vladimir Putin and refusing to obey police order.

After the sentencing, he told reporters the charges against him were "unfounded" and he accused the Russian leader with taking recourse to scare tactics. "What happened in court today looks like something unthinkable. Procedure was grossly violated. I will appeal but there can be no talk of justice anymore."

Yesterday, riot police grabbed Kasparov and a bodyguard, and bundled them into a police bus which drove away from where hundreds of opposition activists and members of The Other Russia coalition were in a tense standoff with security forces. "Freedom! Freedom!" supporters shouted after the bus.

Before his arrest, he had told journalists: "We pose no threat to public order. We only want to march peacefully to the election commission. The powers that be are simply afraid of people who express their dissent."

Sounds all too familiar. I wonder whether this same siege mentality pervades all over the world?