Russia tariff protest widens into broad discontent

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Riot police have clubbed, kicked and detained dozens in the Pacific port of Vladivostok in a harsh crackdown on a protest that was one of dozens across Russia by people outraged over an increase in car import tariffs. With unemployment spiking, prices rising and the ruble sliding, the protests over a seemingly mundane tariff appear to be broadening into a wide expression of public discontent _ and beginning to present a genuine challenge to the Kremlin. "The Russian people have started to open their eyes to what's happening in this country," said Andrei Ivanov, a 30-year-old manager who joined about 200 people at a rally Sunday in Moscow. "The current regime is not acting on behalf of the welfare of the people, but against the welfare of the people." The government announced the tariffs on imported automobiles earlier this month to bolster flagging domestic car production and try to head off layoffs or labor unrest among the country's more than 1.5 million car industry workers.