Multiple Sources: Vote Rigging and Protests in Russia

[visionary]

http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/blog/vladimir-kara-murza/russia%E2%80%99s-democrats-unite-form-anti-putin-party

Russia’s Democrats Unite to Form Anti-Putin Party

Few episodes better illustrate the impact of the recent protest wave on Russia’s political environment than the fate of the People’s Freedom Party. In June 2011, the opposition force established and led by Boris Nemtsov, Mikhail Kasyanov, and Vladimir Ryzhkov was denied registration and barred from elections on the pretext of 79 “irregularities” on the list its 46,148 members. One year later, at its national convention in Moscow, the party gained official status, finally becoming eligible for the ballot on all levels.

A key concession by Kremlin in the face of December’s protests—the largest since 1991—was a new law which significantly lowered the hurdles for registering political parties. At the same time the Russian government—not usually known for its deference to the European Court of Human Rights—agreed to abide by its 2011 ruling that overturned the Kremlin’s ban on the opposition Republican Party as “unjustified.” After being reinstated in the federal register, the Republicans—modern Russia’s oldest pro-democracy party, established in 1990—offered to provide the legal basis for a new unified force. The merger, resulting in the new Republican Party of Russia–People’s Freedom Party (RPR-PARNAS, by its Russian acronym), was finalized at last Saturday’s convention.

The party program envisages constitutional changes that would significantly weaken the presidency (with the Cabinet formed by and accountable to Parliament), limit the president to two four-year terms during his or her lifetime, and reinstate direct district elections to the Duma.

[visionary]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/spiegel-cover-story-on-*****-riot-trial-and-putin-a-849697.html

Putin's Russia Is Becoming a Flawless Dictatorship

The window through which the world currently views Vladimir Putin's Russia is narrow and can only be opened from the outside -- like the feeding door of a cage.

The window is part of the glass enclosure in which the defendants are held during trials in Moscow's Khamovniki district court. As long as it's open, it serves as their connection to the outside world. Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was Russia's richest man until 2003 and has been its most famous prisoner since then, used it to deliver a couple of words to the world when he was put on trial here for a second time in 2010.

Last Wednesday, it was the voice of Nadezhda Tolokonnikova that was coming from the cage. Tolokonnikova, a 22-year-old student, together with two other members of the feminist punk bank ***** Riot, were being charged with "hooliganism." When the verdict is pronounced on Friday, the women could be sentenced to up to three years in prison.

The charge is documented in videos showing the musicians, wearing ski masks, giving a performance on Feb. 21, 2012, in front of the wall of icons in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. The lyrics included the following: "Mother of God, Virgin Mary, drive Putin away," "Holy ****, ****, Lord's ****," and "The patriarch believes in Putin / ****, better believe in God."

In their closing statements to the court, the defendants tried to refute the charge of "hooliganism." Tolokonnikova, with her neatly plucked eyebrows and perfectly styled hair, unabashedly referred to other people who went to extremes to defend their beliefs: St. Stephen, the first martyr of the Christian church; the writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky, who was sentenced to death for his resistance to religious and secular rulers alike; and Gulag chronicler Aleksander Solzhenitsyn, who predicted "that words will crush concrete."

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/08/13/a-secret-putin-palace-on-russia-s-black-sea.html

A Secret Putin Palace on Russia’s Black Sea?

Extravagant mansions are popping up along Russia’s Black Sea coast. Activists say one belongs to the president—and that it was built with illicit state funds. Anna Nemtsova reports.

[visionary]

Uh oh. Medvedev is going to bed without dinner tonight.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/09/20129133132594140.html?utm_content=automate&utm_campaign=Trial6&utm_source=NewSocialFlow&utm_term=plustweets&utm_medium=MasterAccount

Russian PM says ***** Riot should be freed

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has said he thought three ***** Riot punk band members should be freed from prison.

The comments on Wednesday follow their conviction last month for a profanity-laced protest against Vladimir Putin in a Moscow cathedral.

"A suspended sentence, taking into account time they have already spent [in jail], would be entirely sufficient," Medvedev said in televised remarks.

Medvedev, who was president for four years until May, appeared to disassociate him from the two-year jail terms, which were also condemned by domestic rights groups, liberal Russians and opponents of President Putin.

[visionary]

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/09/2012915153122487972.html?utm_content=automate&utm_campaign=Trial6&utm_source=NewSocialFlow&utm_term=plustweets&utm_medium=MasterAccount

Thousands rally against Putin in Moscow

Tens of thousands of opposition supporters have demonstrated in Moscow against President Vladimir Putin's rule, four months into his new mandate.

A diverse sea of protesters on Saturday filled a central square named after the great Soviet physicist and celebrated dissident Andrei Sakharov.

Some 40,000 people turned out for the "March of Millions", according to an estimate by the AFP news agency. The turnout, however, was below the first that Moscow witnessed against Putin in December and had drawn over 100,000.

Police and organisers gave vastly different estimates, accusing each other of not knowing how to count.

Police said that 14,000 people joined the protest, but organiser and far-left leader Sergei Udaltsov said at least 150,000 had participated.

Waving nationalist flags, brandishing placards calling for early elections or wearing T-shirts in support of jailed punk band ***** Riot, protesters hoped to build on the anger created by fraud-tainted elections and Putin's 12-year grip on power.

The protest also tried to put a greater emphasis on social justice."Power to the millions not to the millionaires!" read one slogan.

Split between liberals, nationalists and the extreme left, the anti-Putin opposition has been struggling with its own divisions and accusations it lacks any coherent message beyond hostility to the Kremlin.

The most charismatic opposition leader, anti-corruption crusader Alexei Navalny, told the protesters to prepare for a long haul to challenge Putin and turn up to rallies as if they were going to work.

"All that we are asking for is something simply called freedom, nothing more than equality, simply human dignity.

"No one will give us freedom except for ourselves. Hope and perseverance will bring us victory," he said to cheers from the crowds.

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/18/us-usa-russia-aid-idUSBRE88H11E20120918

USAID mission in Russia to close following Moscow decision

The U.S. Agency for International Development will close its office in Russia following a Russian decision to end the aid agency's work there, the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday.

Analysts said they believed the Russian decision largely reflected Moscow's hostility toward U.S.-funded groups that seek to promote democracy and the rule of law in Russia.

I don't know much about what USAID does in Russia, so I'm not really sure how big a deal this is.

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/04/us-russia-nationalists-putin-idUSBRE8A30BK20121104

Thousands of Russian nationalists rally against Putin

Thousands of black-clad Russian nationalists marched through central Moscow on Sunday, marking a "National Unity Day" holiday created by Vladimir Putin by calling for an end to his rule and voicing hostility to ethnic minorities.

Putin instituted the holiday in 2005 to replace the annual Soviet-era celebration of the Bolshevik revolution. But civil rights activists say his own flirtation with ethnic nationalism has stoked a rise in far-right violence, and is partly to blame for the hijacking of the holiday by hardline militants.

The marchers, mainly young men with closely cropped hair in black leather jackets, shouted "Russia without Putin" and anti-immigrant slogans, carrying Russian Orthodox icons, waving imperial flags and chanting "Russia for Russians".

Police said 6,000 people turned out under grey skies for Sunday's far-right rally, which was given official permission for the first time to march through the heart of Moscow.

Many expressed hostility to migrants from Russia's own mainly Muslim southern regions and other parts of the former Soviet Union, saying Russia should tighten its visa requirements and bolster domestic restrictions on internal migration.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/9654117/Russias-defence-minister-faces-questioning-over-fraud-probe.html

Russia's defence minister faces questioning over fraud probe

State television and other media in Moscow predicted Anatoly Serdyukov would be called to give evidence as a witness.

Mr Serdyukov served until last year as chairman of the board of Oboronservis, a defence agency where prosecutors say up to £60m of public funds were lost as a result of the fraudulent scheme.

Analysts believe the minister, 50, may have been targeted in the corruption probe because of a personal clash with Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov, 71, who is a close ally of President Vladimir Putin.

[visionary]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/07/world/europe/putin-dismisses-russian-defense-minister.html?smid=tw-share

Putin Ousts Defense Chief, Longtime Ally

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia fired his powerful defense minister on Tuesday after the police raided the property of a real estate company involved in the privatization of valuable ministry land near Moscow.

The firing of Anatoly E. Serdyukov, a longtime Putin ally, is one of the highest-level dismissals tied to a corruption case in recent memory in Russia. It was also a rare move by Mr. Putin, who has been reluctant to dismiss members of his inner circle.

Mr. Putin appointed another longtime political ally, Sergei K. Shoigu, the former minister of emergency situations, as the country’s new defense minister.

Dmitri S. Peskov, Mr. Putin’s spokesman, said the firing was necessary to allow the police to continue their investigation of wrongdoing in the Defense Ministry, which he said would not be possible if Mr. Serdyukov remained. Even as Mr. Putin forced Mr. Serdyukov out, he praised the minister’s past work.

Many ministers in the Russian government have secondary roles in business and extensive property and wealth that is typically tolerated unless they fall from favor for another reason, analysts of Russian politics say.

“In Russia, where what matters first and foremost are informal deals and relations, we should be looking for some kind of intrigue behind this all, some kind of a clash of very important interests,” Maria Lipman, a researcher at the Carnegie Moscow Center, said in an interview.

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/13/us-russia-depardieu-idUSBRE90C0GH20130113

French actor Depardieu sides with Putin, criticizes opposition

French actor Gerard Depardieu, recently awarded Russian citizenship by President Vladimir Putin, has praised the former KGB spy and said his political opponents offer no real alternative.

Depardieu, who has been accused in France of abandoning his homeland to avoid a proposed 75 percent tax for millionaires, told the state-run Rossiya-24 television that Putin personified Russia's complex and fascinating national character.

"I like this man very much, he is a very powerful political activist. He has political wisdom," the 63-year-old star of "Cyrano de Bergerac" and "Green Card" said in comments aired late on Sunday, according to the channel's Russian translation.

"The Russian opposition has no program, nothing. There are very smart people there, like (former world chess champion Garry) Kasparov, but what works well for chess is completely unsuited to politics," Depardieu said.

Opposition activists were quick to react. Violetta Volkova, defense lawyer for several opposition members facing charges over anti-Putin protests, wrote sarcastically on Twitter: "Prominent political analyst Depardieu..."

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/17/us-russia-navalny-idUSBRE93G05U20130417

Putin foe Navalny goes on trial in Russia

Russian protest leader Alexei Navalny, looking calm and relaxed, went on trial on Wednesday on theft charges which he says are politically motivated and part of a clampdown on dissent by Vladimir Putin.

The anti-corruption blogger chatted casually with reporters as he entered the court in the city of Kirov 900 km (550 miles) northeast of Moscow, wearing an open-necked shirt and no tie or jacket.

Navalny, 36, is the most prominent opposition leader to be tried since anti-Putin protests began 16 months ago.

The protests have faded but rallies are planned in Navalny's support in Moscow and Kirov on Wednesday, although it is not clear whether he has much backing among the wider public.

Navalny could be jailed for 10 years if convicted of stealing 16 million roubles ($510,000) from a timber firm he was advising in 2009 while working for Kirov's liberal governor.

[visionary]

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/04/what-the-aleksei-navalny-case-says-about-life-in-putins-russia/275175/

What the Aleksei Navalny Case Says About Life in Putin's Russia

All show trials in Russia commence with adjournments, as if to purposefully use as banal legal procedure to interrupt the anticipatory anxiety of seeing the Kremlin face off with one of its enemies. So it was with Mikhail Khodorkovsky, with ***** Riot, and now with the trial of opposition blogger Aleksei Navalny. After all the hotels in Kirov had been booked for foreign and domestic correspondents and for Navalny's broad team of comrades and admirers, the first day of the trial lasted about 30 minutes.

The defense had asked for a month-long adjournment to study the Everest of prosecutorial documents (one can't quite call these "evidence") against their client. They got a week. Then everyone went home, including the defendant who had taken a 12-hour train journey from Moscow, some 550 miles away, to see first hand just how Vladimir Putin intends to destroy him by branding him with the labels he hates the most: a fraudster and a hypocrite.

Depending on your perspective, which depends on how closely you follow events in Russia, the brazenness of the modern show trial is either surreal or typical. The presiding Judge Sergei Blinov has handed down 130 guilty verdicts and zero acquittals in the last two years, which is slightly above the national average of 99 percent conviction rates (defendants during the Great Purge were 20 times more likely to be acquitted than they are now).

In Navalny's case, Blinov has so far broken the law by allowing no preliminary hearings. The head of the Leninsky District Court has publicly stated that a guilty verdict in the present case is "probable but not inevitable." In a normal country, that alone would likely be grounds for a mistrial, or at least a change of venue.

[visionary]

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2013/05/201356152948729728.html

Thousands gather for Russia opposition rally

Thousands of Russians have taken to the streets of Moscow to mark one year since a major opposition protest ended in mass arrests.

Police said about 6,000 protesters were present at the start of Monday's rally, Al Jazeera's David Chater, reporting from Moscow, estimated the crowd at 20,000. Only up to 30,000 people were allowed by the government to protest.

"It looks like a very powerful protest and it looks like it's going to be full as much as the mayor of Moscow allows," Chater said.

Our correspondent said opposition blogger Alexi Navalny, who is facing charges of embezzlement by the government, is expected to address crowd.

http://www.interpretermag.com/alexey-navalnys-speech-at-bolotnaya-square/

Alexey Navalny’s Speech at Bolotnaya Square

Happy Easter!

I came on the stage with my wife — I haven’t thought up a new slogan, but I’ve come to protest with my wife.

They said our voices aren’t heard 30 meters [reference to a poem - ed]. But they are.

It’s understood that something powerful and something frightening to some has come out on the street.

I’m part of that frightening thing… It is enormous… It is the people!

But some are afraid, some people with tiny eyes across the road are afraid, some with tiny noses sniffing over there, they are afraid.

https://twitter.com/Interpreter_Mag

"We call for a removal of censorship in the media on TV and print."

12:46 PM

Nemtsov: "Russia will be free!"

12:46 PM

"we have to show we are not slaves, one for all, one for all!" #Bolotnaya

12:47 PM

[visionary]

http://m.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/17/alexander-litvinenko-widow-slams-william-hague

Alexander Litvinenko widow accuses William Hague of sabotaging inquest

The widow of Alexander Litvinenko has launched a blistering attack on William Hague and David Cameron, accusing them of sabotaging the inquest into her husband's murder and hiding the Russian state's role in his death.

Marina Litvinenko said she was "utterly dismayed" after a coroner on Friday upheld an application by Hague to keep crucial evidence from the inquest secret.

Sir Robert Owen reluctantly agreed to exclude material which suggested Russia's state agencies were behind Litvinenko's cold-war style killing.

Owen also agreed to suppress documents that examined whether UK officials could have done more to prevent his murder.

A furious Mrs Litvinenko said on Friday: "The effect of today's ruling is to protect those responsible for the murder of a British citizen on the streets of London, and to allow the Russian government to shield behind a claim for secrecy made by William Hague with the backing of prime minister David Cameron."

[visionary]

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/russian-opposition-leader-navalny-found-guilty

Russian opposition leader Navalny found guilty

 

A Russian judge has found opposition leader Alexei Navalny guilty of embezzlement, a finding that could bring the charismatic anti-corruption blogger and Moscow mayoral candidate up to six years in prison.

 

Judge Sergei Blinov did not immediately state the sentence on Thursday. Under Russian court proceedings, full verdict readings can take several hours.

 

http://www.interpretermag.com/before-the-sentence/

Before the Sentence…

Alexei Navalny's statement on the eve of his sentencing.

 

http://www.interpretermag.com/navalny-verdict-liveblog/

Navalny Verdict: Liveblog

 

 

https://twitter.com/michaeldweiss

33 out of 34 prosecutorial witnesses actually defended Navalny. And he wasn't allowed a single witness for the defense.
1:38 AM

[visionary]

https://twitter.com/BreakingNews

Russian protest leader Alexei Navalny sentenced to 5 years in jail - @Reuters
4:27 AM

 

[visionary]

http://www.interpretermag.com/navalny-verdict-liveblog/

12:13 p.m. (EST): RFE/RL reports that the prosecution in Kirov, where Nalvany was sentenced, is now calling for his release:

A representative of the Prosecutor’s Office has filed an appeal against the courtroom arrest of Aleksei Navalny and Pyotr Ofitserova. The prosecution believes that the decision to arrest was unlawful because the sentence had not yet entered into force. The court will take up the appeal tomorrow.

 

RT reports that protests have now broken out across the country, not just the very large crowds we’ve been following in Moscow:

Twitter users have reported several arrests in St. Petersburg, where around 400 Navalny supporters have gathered on Malaya Sadovaya Street for an unsanctioned protest.

 

Smaller protests have been taking place in several other Russian cities including Samara, Kazan and Voronezh, with about 100 protesters reportedly holding banners and chanting slogans in Samara, according to Lenta.ru.

 

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/20/us-russia-navalny-idUSBRE96G0WO20130720?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

Moscow crowd greets returning opposition leader

 

Hundreds of people, some waving white roses, met Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny off the train in Moscow on Saturday, a day after he was freed on bail pending appeal of his five-year jail sentence.

 

Navalny, who says his embezzlement conviction was politically motivated due to his outspoken criticism of President Vladimir Putin, told supporters it was thanks to their pressure that he had been released.

 

"You have ruined and destroyed the main privilege that the Kremlin is trying to capture ... to take a man under guard right from the court room (to jail)," Navalny told the crowd, amid a heavy police presence.

 

"You have made it possible to release these men the next day," he said, referring to himself and Pyotr Ofitserov, who was sentenced to four years as his accomplice.

 

"Compared to that, it is easy to win elections," he said.

 

Navalny, a 37-year-old lawyer and anti-corruption blogger, plans to run for mayor in a Moscow election on September 8 against Sergei Sobyanin, a close Putin ally seeking a fresh term.

 

His supporters say the decision to release him is an effort by Russian authorities to legitimize the election that Sobyanin looks likely to win. Navalny's support is mostly limited to the urban middle-class and youth.

 

[Burgold]

It is interesting how highly criticized this has been even in Russia.  It's a pretty hopeful sign.

[visionary]

http://www.interpretermag.com/russia-to-abolish-mayoral-and-city-duma-elections/

Russia to Abolish Mayoral and City Duma Elections

 

This summer, the biggest story in Russia was that, for the first time in recent memory, a serious opposition candidate, Alexei Navalny, could win an important election. Navalny was running for Moscow’s mayor against President Putin’s favored candidate, Sergei Sobyanin.

 

Despite being arrested, tried and convicted for fraud, and then released, Navalny still received a much larger percentage of the vote than many expected, despite complaints from the opposition and many election monitors that the race was rigged.

 

It appears that the election cycle has rattled Russia’s President. According to TV Rain, there will be no more mayoral elections in Russia. Instead, mayors will be selected by the heads of regions, who are directly elected. It should be noted that this story has not been carried by other news agencies yet. — Ed.

According to a source, heads of regions, who will be elected in direct elections, will appoint mayors.

President Vladimir Putin is expected to announce this on 12 December during his address to the Federal Assembly.

[alexey]

Sucks poor people of Russia.

I love USA and will be forever grateful to my parents for immigrating.