The lower house of the Russian parliament...

The motorists, who gathered on April 24, were protesting against official cars using flashing lights to give them preferential passage. A column of cars drove through the streets with plastic buckets attached to their roofs. The protest was repeated on April 28 by the Russian Motorists Federation.

The bill, which stipulates that participants of a protest may only be notified of the whereabouts of a rally after it has been agreed with the authorities, was drafted by deputies of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party, A Just Russia party and the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia.

One of the initiators of the bill, United Russia party member Sergei Markov, said that demonstrations by motorists should be regulated as socio-political protests. He said he considers existing Russian legislation on protests and rallies to be "fairly liberal."

A Just Russia party member Mikhail Yemelyanov said he believes restricting the rights of opposition parties is a "small loss" since

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