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Nochnoy Dozor (pressure group)
Encyclopedia
Russophone
A Russophone is literally a speaker of the Russian language either natively or by preference. At the same time the term is used in a more specialized meaning to describe the category of people whose cultural background is associated with Russian language regardless of ethnic and territorial...
political activists
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
living in Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
. It was set up in the summer of 2006, with its original declared goal of defending the Bronze Soldier
Bronze Soldier of Tallinn
The Bronze Soldier is the informal name of a controversial Soviet World War II war memorial in Tallinn, Estonia, built at the site of several war graves, which were relocated to the nearby Tallinn Military Cemetery in 2007...
, a monument grave marker in Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
, near the Estonian National Library and next to a trolleybus
Trolleybus
A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit...
stop, against "defacing, relocation and exhumation".
Media savvy
The group has made several anti-governmental statements and are allegedly supported by the Russian Foreign Ministry. Nochnoy Dozor refers to itself as an anti-fascist organization.The group has made a number of public statements dubbing various Estonian politicians as Nazis and calling for their resignation. These statements are often rapidly taken up by Russian language
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
media channels. Following the relocation of Bronze Soldier of Tallinn
Bronze Soldier of Tallinn
The Bronze Soldier is the informal name of a controversial Soviet World War II war memorial in Tallinn, Estonia, built at the site of several war graves, which were relocated to the nearby Tallinn Military Cemetery in 2007...
in April 2007, the group called for resignation of the whole Estonian cabinet of ministers. According to an article in the Estonian Postimees
Postimees
Postimees is an Estonian daily newspaper. It was established in 1 January 1857 by Johann Voldemar Jannsen and became Estonia's first daily newspaper in 1891....
, during July 2007 the group was instrumental in constructing a controversy over the 50th birthday party of Rein Lang
Rein Lang
Rein Lang is an Estonian politician, a member of the Estonian Reform Party since 1995, and a diplomat. He is currently serving as the Minister of Culture.- Personal life :...
, Estonian Minister of Justice; Nochnoy Dozor was involved in calling for Lang's resignation.
The group is also semi-humorously referred to as Nochnoy Pozor (Night Shame) after its well-recognized chant
Chant
Chant is the rhythmic speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of notes to highly complex musical structures Chant (from French chanter) is the rhythmic speaking or singing...
of Pozor! Pozor! (Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
for Shame! Shame!) in the course of the day preceding the Bronze Night
Bronze Night
The Bronze Night , also known as the April Unrest and April Events refer to the controversy and riots in Estonia surrounding the 2007 relocation of the Bronze Soldier of Tallinn, the Soviet World War II memorial in Tallinn....
,
Devaluation panic affair
On November 25, 2007, the group spread disinformation about supposed secret devaluationDevaluation
Devaluation is a reduction in the value of a currency with respect to those goods, services or other monetary units with which that currency can be exchanged....
of the Estonian Kroon
Estonian kroon
In 1992, coins were introduced in denominations of 5, 10, 20 & 50 senti, as well as 1 kroon. The 1 kroon was struck in cupronickel, the others in aluminum-bronze. However, in 1997, nickel-plated steel 20 senti were introduced, followed by aluminum-bronze 1 kroon in 1998. 5 senti coins were not...
. The Security Police
Kaitsepolitseiamet
The Estonian Security Police is a central national security institution of Republic of Estonia. Its purposes are centered around enforcing constitutional order...
started an investigation of the matter. The accusation is based on a message published at organization's message board that originated from the portal Arif where it appeared under header "Business training. This is a game's scenario". Originally, the message had been posted at organization's forum without any references to Arif's website and without mentioning "This is a game's scenario" part from Arif.ee website. Later, after speculation in local media and blogs mentioning Nochnoy Dozor's forum as a source, a link to Arif's website was added on Nochnoy Dozor's forum and a message describing the news post as a game as well appeared.
"Singling out" subcontroversy
The Russian news portal Newsru.com incorrectly reported that the press secretary of the Security PoliceKaitsepolitseiamet
The Estonian Security Police is a central national security institution of Republic of Estonia. Its purposes are centered around enforcing constitutional order...
told the media that the organization singled out Nochnoy Dozor because of this organization's connections to Russia. Newsru quoted him as saying that while there was no ground for the criminal investigation, the investigation can continue on different grounds.
This report turned out to be a fabrication; the press release contains no mention of "singling out" Nochnoy Dozor nor the supposed plans to continue an official criminal investigation.
External links
- Official website , with some information in Estonian and English
- Petition of ‘night patrol’
- Another ND site
- Eesti EkspressEesti EkspressEesti Ekspress was the first politically independent newspaper in the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic during the Soviet control of Estonia. Making use of Gorbachev's policies of perestroika and glasnost, it was established as a weekly newspaper in 1989 by Hans H. Luik and others...
May 31, 2006: Notšnoi Dozor by Viktoria Ladõnskaja, an article on the early history of the group