Posts Tagged ‘putin’
Why Khodorkovsky Matters
Over the past six months, I’ve written three columns about Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former Russian oligarch who has been in prison since 2003, charged, tried, convicted — and recently reconvicted — on transparently bogus tax and embezzlement charges.
Partly, I keep returning to the subject because his lengthy imprisonment offends my sense of justice; his real crime, after all, was challenging Vladimir Putin, the Russian strongman. More importantly, Khodorkovsky’s fate stands as a powerful illustration of Russia’s biggest problem: the contempt the country’s corrupt rulers have for the rule of law.
Yet after each of those columns, I received feedback saying, essentially, that Khodorkovsky deserved what he got. Even if the crimes for which he went to prison were fictitious, he undoubtedly did bad things on his way to becoming Russia’s richest man. “He stole Russian national resources, truly the wealth of the nation,” read one e-mail, referring to Khodorkovsky’s role in founding the now-defunct oil company Yukos. “I have zero sympathy for him.”
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Interview of Hermitage Capital Investment Fund head William Browder on the case of Sergey Magnitsky and its aftereffects for the Russian economy
WPS: What the Papers Say
Vladimir Putin has failed to justify the hopes of investors on the establishment of clear rules of the game; he has created a terrible and destructive class of nomenclature oligarchy.
The case of the Hermitage Capital Investment Fund and the death of lawyer Sergey Magnitsky in a preliminary detention cell are similar to the case of YuKOS as viewed in terms of public response. Below is an interview of William Browder, head of Hermitage Capital.
Q. – We would like to set the record straight regarding the exposing videos and the freezing of certain personal bank accounts of Russian officials by the Prosecutor’s Office in Switzerland. Did Hermitage initiate those actions, and why were they launched?
A. – It was Hermitage Capital lawyers that filed an appeal to the prosecutor in Switzerland, and that appeal initiated the criminal investigation of money laundering of some Russian officials and members of their families – I believe it speaks for itself. “The Untouchables”, a film uploaded at youtube.com and released by friends and colleagues of Magnitsky, highlights in detail information of the enrichment by millions of dollars of the families of those officials, their real estate property abroad, and their personal bank accounts in Switzerland. The Swiss authorities have already launched a criminal case based on that information.
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Congress goes after Russian officials for human rights violations
President Barack Obama is set to meet with Russian President Dmitri Medvdev on May 26 in France on the sidelines of the G-8 meetings. In advance of that meeting, Congress has unveiled a new bill to force the administration to sanction Russian officials for human rights violations.
“One of the core foreign policy objectives when we came into office was the Russia reset,” Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes told reporters on a conference call on Friday. “It has been one of the most productive relationships for the United States in terms of the signing and ratification of the New START treaty, cooperation on nuclear security, cooperation with regard to Iran sanctions and nonproliferation generally, the northern distribution network into Afghanistan that supports our effort there, and our discussions with Russia about expanding trade ties and their interest in joining the WTO, as well as Russia’s increased cooperation with NATO that was manifested by the NATO-Russia meetings in Lisbon.”
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Russia raps U.S. state dept human rights report
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday that last week’s U.S. State Department report, criticizing Moscow’s human rights record, reflected double standards and was politicized.
“As before, the document has unfortunately become obvious evidence of the use of “double standards” and the politicization of human rights issues by the United States,” the ministry said in a statement posted on its website www.mid.ru.
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Limiting Russia’s Sovereign Democracy
Ever since Kremlin first deputy chief of staff Vladislav Surkov introduced the term “sovereign democracy” in 2006, senior government officials have claimed that the West does not have a right to meddle in Russia’s domestic affairs, particularly regarding human rights issues. But according to the post-World War II paradigm governing international law, gross human rights abuses are a global concern, regardless of where they occur.
Russia’s interpretation of national sovereignty is back in the spotlight after the Western coalition started bombing Libya last month. Although the military intervention was approved by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, with Russia abstaining, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin likened it to medieval crusades and said the West should not interfere in “internal political conflicts.”
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Putin’s Shadow and Shoelaces
There was a great joke that was popular after Dmitry Medvedev became president in 2008: Prime Minister Vladimir Putin gave Medvedev a car without a steering wheel. “But where is the steering wheel?” asks Medvedev. “Don’t worry,” answers Putin. “I’ll be doing the driving.”
On April Fools’ Day, Putin played this joke out in reality. He drove a Yo-Mobile, the new hybrid automobile, to Medvedev’s residence. Posing for television crews from every national channel, Putin picked up Medvedev and drove for a while with the president in the passenger’s seat.
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The Status Quo Fatigue
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
In Moscow, a striking contrast exists between signs of economic revival after the 2008-2009 crisis and the general pessimism among intellectuals, opposition leaders, top analysts, entrepreneurs, and media figures. An investigation of this paradox points to several explanations. Unlike a few years ago, there is a pervasive sense that the political and economic model Vladimir Putin offered the country–stability in exchange for “guided/sovereign democracy,” sustained by state-guided oil- and gas-driven growth–is nearly exhausted. Disillusionment with President Dmitri Medvedev’s ability to translate liberal rhetoric into action and implement meaningful reforms adds to the despondence. The presidential election of 2012, which some view as no more than carefully scripted political theater, offers no hope for change.
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The world has changed
Events in North Africa have led to an upheaval in region’s seemingly stable condition. Until recently the internal problems of these countries had hardly attracted attention while externally they have served as more or less dependable partners of the USA and the European Union. Over the past few months the situation has changed dramatically. Thanks to the Libyan crisis the EU has faced a drop in oil supplies. The catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in Japan, meanwhile, has put paid to the already weak conviction that nuclear power could be safe within the EU. On top of this has come a sharp increase in the number of refugees fleeing the North African disturbances which only highlights the lack of an effective strategy within Europe for integrating those who arrived before.
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US leans towards Medvedev
No US official has explicitly backed President Dmitry Medvedev for re-election in 2012, but US Vice President Joe Biden came within a hair’s breadth of giving Medvedev his endorsement in preference to Vladimir Putin in a series of blunt messages during his visit to Moscow last week.
Biden, who met with both the president and prime minister, reportedly suggested to a group of opposition leaders that Putin – who many believe still wields the reins of power after stepping down in 2008 – should not run for a third term.
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