Putin attends opening of memorial for repression victims in Moscow
MOSCOW. Oct 30 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and members of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights have attended the opening of a memorial to victims of political repressions in Moscow, the head of state's press secretary Dmitry Peskov said.
"Having concluded the meeting with members of the Human Rights Council, the president, together with meeting attendees, traveled in one bus to Sakharov Avenue to attend the opening ceremony for the memorial," Peskov said.
The memorial was erected at the intersection of the avenue and the Garden Ring, and was designed by sculptor Georgy Frangulyan.
The design was selected out of 300 works by a jury which included Human Rights Council chairman Mikhail Fedotov, Central election Commission Head Ella Pamfilova (a former ombudsman), Moscow Helsinki Group leader Lyudmila Alexeyeva, Alexander Muzykantsky, and Roman Romanov, director of the GULAG History Museum.
The monument is a bronze bas-relief depicting human figures symbolizing the survivors and the dead. The inscription "remember" appears in various languages on the sides of it. The bas-relief is complete with granite compositions symbolizing the confines of torture chambers and trains. There are also plans to pave the square with stones taken from labor camps.