Opposition activists have submitted an application to hold a mid-April march in support of freedom of the media.
The march, planned for April 13, would start at Moscow's Turgenev Square and culminate in a rally on Pushkin Square, organizer and opposition journalist Alexander Rylkin told Interfax.
The first three months of 2014 have seen observers becoming increasingly worried about the state of freedom of speech and media freedom in Russia. Independent television channel Dozhd was cut off by major cable providers after briefly publishing a controversial poll about World War II, though many suspect that the operator's actions were motivated by a larger political campaign against the channel.
Earlier this month the general director and editor-in-chief of news website Lenta.ru were fired after the site published an interview with a Ukrainian nationalist, dismissals that led to the resignation of a large number of employees. Speaking to students at the Higher School of Economics on Friday, fired editor Galina Timchenko said in response to a question about the future of Russian journalism,"I don't see anything good."
Organizers have asked for the march to be approved for 50,000 participants.
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