NOVO-OGARYOVO. March 27 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for an analysis of the recent events in Ukraine and all "colored revolutions."
"No doubt, we should analyze the events that are taking place around us, in the information sphere and in the protest movement. Only I am asking you not to make any decisions that would considerably restrict civil liberties and citizens' right to express their opinion on this wave," the president said during a meeting with members of the Federation Council.
"As to the analysis of all 'colored revolutions,' including the recent events in Ukraine, we should undoubtedly analyze them to protect our citizens from the arbitrariness of various ultra activists, from the arbitrariness of terrorist elements and extremists," Putin said.
Putin asked the parliamentarians to "be careful."
"We should not yield to euphoria and create conditions unacceptable for civil society to protect our rights," the president said.
"The country's citizens should always understand that they have a set of legal methods the can use to make claims against the authorities if they can't do it using other methods, including rallies and marches," he said.
Putin reiterated that such expression "should be within the framework of the law."
"No one should go beyond this framework, only peaceful methods should be used. The authorities should not create super comfortable conditions for themselves and hide behind repressive frameworks, endlessly expanding their repressive functions," he said.
"There needs to be a balance here," Putin said.
Putin called on the parliamentarians to adopt a responsible approach to such issues.
These statements were made by Putin in response to a speech by Andrei Klishas, the head of the Federation Council committee, who spoke for adjustments of the Russian rallies legislation, mentioning the huge number of victims at rallies in Ukraine.
The senator said that "monitoring of law enforcement practices shows that there are citizens who are systematically subjected to liability for violating order." He said he believes criminal liability should be introduced for violations of the rally laws, in addition to administrative liability.