No pub public lic showi showings ngs of the the film film yet yet that that I'm aware aware of. of. EP leade leaders rs are are reener reenergiz gized ed on sanct sanction ions. s. And Ken/ Ken/NBC NBC claim claimss to still still be writing something and may publish as soon as tomorrow. I expect Alexeeva and Borshov to publicly rubbish Nekrasov and NBC tomorrow, making NBC the story. Also, folks are poking around on the Veselnitskaya adoption angle. Did you see the Rohrabacher piece?
On Wednesday, May 4, 2016, Robert Otto > wrote: of the film and the the europarliament europarliament … and ,,,, the NBC production?
From:
Robert Otto
Sent time:
05/05/2016 12:18:01 12:18:01 AM
To:
CP
Subject:
Re: what's the status
http://www.novayagazeta.ru/politics/72940.html
On May 4, 2016, at 4:57 PM, CP < [email protected][email protected]> > wrote: No publ public ic show showin ings gs of of the the film film yet yet that that I'm aware aware of. of. EP leade leaders rs are are reener reenergiz gized ed on sanct sanction ions. s. And Ken/ Ken/NBC NBC claim claimss to still be writing something and may publish as soon as tomorrow. I expect Alexeeva and Borshov to public publicly ly rubbis rubbish h Nekras Nekrasov ov and NBC NBC tomorr tomorrow, ow, makin making g NBC the stor story. y. Also, Also, folks folks are are poking poking aroun around d on the Veselnitskaya adoption angle. Did you see the Rohrabacher piece?
On Wednesday, May 4, 2016, Robert Otto > wrote: of the film and the the europarliament europarliament … and ,,,, the NBC production?
From:
Kyle Parker
Sent time:
06/07/2016 06:04:38 AM
To:
Robert Otto
Subject:
Fwd: Comment from Natalia Veselnitskaya
---------- Forwarded message ---------From: Michael Weiss > Date: Wednesday, June 1, 2016 Subject: Comment from Natalia Veselnitskaya To: William F Browder , >, C P , >, Vadim Kleiner
She just messaged me on Facebook. This is hilarious. Enjoy: Уважаемый Майкл! Хочу Вас поблагодарить за ту рекламу, которую Вы мне сделали. Несмотря на Ваше желание деформировать меня и моего клиента, реакция от Вашей публикации пошла с точностью наоборот. И, знаете, я в отличие от многих других, не вижу в Вас коррупционного носителя пропаганды Браудера и махрового русофоба. Мне кажется, что у Вас в жизни что-то надломилось или какой-то нехороший человек, имеющий отношении к моей стране, Вас обидел. Мне искренне жаль в таком случае. Пройдёт время и оно не смирит все страсти, но мы должны быть честными сами с собой и не искать оправдания в каких-то замысловатых патетических объяснениях. Желаю Вам искренних друзей. Всего Вам доброго
From:
Kyle Parker
Sent time:
04/26/2016 05:25:06 PM
To:
Robert Otto
Subject:
Fwd: Fw: Veselnitskaya NGO in US to fight Magnitsky Act FW: Accreditation for Mr Browder's press conference
Note Note Veseln Veselnits itskay kaya's a's role role in in the story story belo below. w. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/09/russians-stick-u-s-with-50k-plaza-hotel-bar-bill.html
---------- Forwarded message ---------From: William Browder > Date: Tuesday, April 26, 2016 Subject: Fw: Veselnitskaya NGO in US to fight Magnitsky Act FW: Accreditation for Mr Browder's press conference To: Kyle Parker >
Fyi Sent from my BlackBerry From: Vadim.Kleiner@h Vadim.Kleiner@hermitagef ermitagefund.com und.com Sent:26 April 2016 3:54 pm To: Vladimir.Pastuh Vladimir.Pastuhov@he ov@hermitage rmitagefund.co fund.com m; [email protected][email protected];; [email protected][email protected];; [email protected] Veselnitskaya NGO in US to fight Magnitsky Magnitsky Act FW: Accreditation Accreditation for Mr Browder's press conference conference Subject: Veselnitskaya
The Human Rights Accountability Global Initiative Foundation (“HRAGIF”), non-governmental organization established in Washington, DC to help strengthening US-Russia relations. Three years ago, the fate of about 250 children was thrown into uncertainty after Russia passed a law passed prohibiting Americans from adopting children in Russia. The children would have added to the impressive number – more than 60,000 – of Russian children adopted by American families following the collapse of Communism. Some of the blocked adoptions were taken up by Russian families – while other children were adopted overseas. But some got sick and others reportedly died. Officially the Russian law was passed following outrage over the 2008 death of Chase Harrison (original Russian name Dima Yakovlev) – a toddler adopted by a Virginia family, left to die in a car on a sweltering summer day. Unofficially – in conjunction with a barrage of sanctions – Russia passed the law in retaliation for the 2012 US “Magnitsky Act”, which imposed sanctions on Russia and on individuals blamed for the death of lawyer called Sergei Magnitsky. HRAGIF is working on analyzing legal and legislative options to help overturn this adoption ban. We would like to present our findings to the members of US Congress, Administration and US public and is planning to brief them on possible ways of resolution of this stalemate on adoptions.
http://hragi.org/#
From: William Browder Sent: Tuesday, April 26, 2016 3:40 PM To: Maria; Ivan Cherkasov; Vladimir Pastoukhov; Vadim Kleiner Subject: FW: Accreditation for Mr Browder's press conference
From: Tomasz Klosowicz [mailto:[email protected] [mailto:[email protected] ] Sent: Tuesday, April 26, 2016 3:30 PM To: William Browder; Flavia Trevisani Cc: Anna Koj Subject: Fwd: Accreditation for Mr Browder's press conference
Dear Bill, We sent out your invitation. I forward to you requests for access badges I have received (these are not our contacts but apparently someone from our Brussels contacts sent it to them as well). Up to your decision what to do with them (particularly this from the Russian television...). Best regards, Tomasz
---------- Forwarded message ---------From: Anatoli > Date: 26 April 2016 at 13:40 Subject: Accreditation for Mr Browder's press conference To: "[email protected] "[email protected] "
Dear Mr. Koloswicz: Koloswicz: I writing to request accreditation to attend attend Mr. Browder's press press conference on the 29th of April. Myself and my colleague represent represent US bases NGO Human Rights Accountability Accountability Global Initiative Initiative Foundation. The names are Anatoli Anatoli Samochornov and Natalia Veselnitskaya. Natalia is a Russian lawyer who conducted an extensive investigation investig ation of the Magnitsky case. Let me know know if you have any other other questions or require require any additional additional information from from us. Thank you. Anatoli Sent from my iPhone
-Tomasz Kłosowicz Advocacy Officer Open Dialog Foundation
FW: ["VLAD GOING REALLY BAD" MEETS THE "SUNDAY EVENING RUN"] [PB] RU & UK in the Euro Cup; Londongrad & A Smear That Did Not Work…..[Neil B] RU & Magnitsky……[Keith B] 100000 flee crimea as russia tightens grip……[NIC M ND] Fighting in Eastern Ukraine; Hist
From: Walter Zaryckyj Zaryckyj [mailto:[email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] .edu] Sent: Sunday, June 12, 2016 4:31 PM Subject: ["VLAD GOING REALLY BAD" MEETS THE "SUNDAY EVENING RUN"] [PB] RU & UK in the Euro Cup; Londongrad & A Smear That Did Not Work…..[Neil B] RU & Magnitsky……[Keith B] 100000 flee crimea as russia tightens grip……[NIC M ND] Fighting in Eastern Ukraine; Histo...
---------- Forwarded message ---------From: Walter Zaryckyj Date: Sun, Jun 12, 2016 at 7:13 PM Subject: ["VLAD GOING REALLY BAD" MEETS THE "SUNDAY EVENING RUN"] [PB] RU & UK in the Euro Cup; Londongrad & A Smear That Did Not Work…..[Neil B] RU & Magnitsky……[Keith B] 100000 flee crimea as russia tightens grip……[NIC M ND] To: Roma Hadzewycz , >, r l
---------- Forwarded message ---------From: Peter Borisow < > Date: Sun, Jun 12, 2016 at 11:22 AM Subject: Euro 2016: England and Russia given disqualification warning - BBC News [LONDONGRAD AT WORK] To: "Waz (Columbia)" >
Once again BBC shows its Red Roots together with UEFA's Pockets Full of Miracles (aka Russian Cash) . RU thugs and Putin terrorists sneak flares into the game , then storm (as in "troopers") the Brits and they're threatened with equal punishment. It's no longer just a failure of courage to identify the attacker and distinguish the attacker from the victim. It's just more "practical", as in not offending the hand that feeds your new sports car. The cancer of Russia's endemic corruption has fully penet rated not only the BBC but also the sports world at almost all levels. We know about Tennis, the Olympics and Soccer. It's only a matter of time before it spreads to USA sports as well. Do you think Putin's gangsters haven' t noticed the huge cash flow in USA betting on football? How long before they decide to get more than their fair share? http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36510550 ADD: http://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/jun/12/russian-hooligans-savage-organised-england-fans-marseille-euro-2016 http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/12/world/euro-2016-england-russia-violence/index.html http://www.dailystar.co. http://www.da ilystar.co.uk/news/latest uk/news/latest-news/522454/ -news/522454/Russia-E Russia-England-St-Geor ngland-St-George-Stolen-Fl ge-Stolen-Flags-Gloat-Vio ags-Gloat-Violence-Euro-20 lence-Euro-2016-Hooligans 16-Hooligans ---------- Forwarded message ---------From: Peter Borisow < > Date: Sun, Jun 12, 2016 at 12:45 PM Subject: Ukraine gay rights tension mirrors post-Maidan upheaval - BBC News [LONDONGRAD AGAIN] [ED: Turned out to be a (conscious or unconscious)'false flag' story] To: "Waz (Columbia)" >
As BBC turns itself inside out to find fault with anything and everything Ukrainian, Gay Pride Day in Ukraine passed without incident. No one was attacked. No one was injured. No one was killed. One can't fail to notice there is No Gay Rights Day in Russia. Rather, in Putin's Nazi Russia, just like in Hitler's Nazi Germany, gays are officiall y persecuted……. And, most painful of all, the tragedy on Gay Rights Day in the USA, the horrific slaughter in Orlando. Some 300 attacked. 50 dead. 53 injured. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36503259 ---------- Forwarded message ---------From: VRT Date: Sun, Jun 12, 2016 at 10:35 AM Subject: FT/NEIL B: Russia: Magnitsky’s bitter legacy [ED: GOOD STORY--LOUSY HEADER]; TELEGRAPH/KEITH B: 100000 flee crimea as russia tightens grip To: [email protected] http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/1eb38914-2ca4-11e6-a18d-a96ab29e3c95.html
Russia: Magnitsky’s bitter legacy Max Seddon and Neil Buckley
FT The story of Sergei Magnitsky’s 2009 death became, for many in the west, an allegory of Vladimir Putin’s Russia — brutal, oppressive and corrupt. The 37-yearold accountant was found dead, his body bearing bruises, in a Moscow prison cell having been detained for nearly a year over accusations of tax evasion. His real crime, say supporters, was exposing a $230m theft from the Russian treasury by officials linked to a criminal gang.
By 2012 the US Congress had passed the Magnitsky Act, imposing sanctions on dozens of Russians implicated in the crime, and sending relations between the US and Russia to a then post-cold war low. Now, amid efforts to extend that legislation worldwide, the late accountant is again at the centre of a battle that moves to Washington on Monday with the airing of a film that challenges the “established” Magnitsky story. The documentary, called The Magnitsky Act — Behind the Scenes, is scheduled to premiere to an invited audience. Previous attempts to air it — at the European Parliament in Brussels in April and a festival in Norway last week — have been halted by legal steps pursued by Bill Browder, the fund manager who employed the accountant and has led a crusade to have his death reinvestigated. Mr Browder and the Magnitsky family say the film, by Russian-born director Andrei Nekrasov, is false and defamatory. Russian TV crews at the Brussels screening, however, reported the cancellation as a western cover-up. The House Foreign Affairs Committee in Washington will soon hold a hearing on the issue at the urging of Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican congressman known as the biggest of Mr Putin’s few sympathisers on Capitol Hill. The film’s critics say it is part of the most determined assault yet on the Magnitsky Act and the Browder story that inspired it. Russian state TV increasingly describes Mr Browder as a CIA-linked bogeyman trying to bring down the country. Russians facing legal action in New York for allegedly laundering part of the fraud proceeds are fighting back by calling the Browder account a sham. A fresh lobbying effort in Washington — some of which can be traced back to Moscow — is seeking to stop a global Magnitsky Act that would allow sanctions to be imposed on human rights abusers from any country. Gunnar Ekelove-Slydal of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, a human rights group, suggests it is “priority number one for Russia” to block a global act — or at least remove the Magnitsky name, which he says has come to “symbolise all the problems. problems . . . in Russia”. It is also anxious to block any similar measures by EU states. “This is not something the Kremlin likes,” he says. “It can have real consequences for people in the elite.” Russian relations The Magnitsky measures, passed over the objections of a White House then attempting to “reset” relations with Moscow, were the biggest irritant in US-Russian relations until the 2014 Ukraine crisis. The asset freezes and visa bans pioneered a new way of targeting human rights abusers across borders. The story of the accountant’s death helped cement western perceptions of a lawless Russia where police can collude with criminals to defraud the state, murder honest investigators, and get away with it. Prosecutors filed charges against two prison officials for mistreating Magnitsky, but dropped them after the act gained traction in Congress. Mr Browder’s critics suggest he either cooked up the Magnitsky story as an alibi to prevent his extradition on Russian tax evasion charges — which he says were politically motivated — or that he and colleagues carried out the fraud themselves. Given that he has spent years urging multiple jurisdictions to investigate the fraud and freeze its proceeds — 11 countries have opened probes, and six have frozen assets — Mr Browder says that idea is preposterous. “This is a smear campaign,” he says. “All these people are connected. It’s all part of an FSB operation to discredit me,” he says, referring to Russia’s successor to the KGB security service. The campaign appears less co-ordinated than Mr Browder suggests and more of a multi-faceted effort by groups with shared interests, some of whom have been in contact with one another. These groups deny being backed or directed by Moscow. But they are providing ammunition for the Kremlin. Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, told a Moscow newspaper last week: “A great number of facts have appeared — including documentary films which, by the way, are forbidden from being shown in Europe for some reason — confirming that the death of Sergei Magnitsky was all the result of enormous trickery by this . . . Browder, who is an unscrupulous swindler.” Mr Browder was for several years the largest foreign portfolio investor in Russia and a vocal Putin supporter, until he was barred from the country with no formal explanation in 2005. He and his associates believe his campaigns to improve Russian corporate governance had angered powerful people. The fund manager alleges a criminal group including tax officials and police used corporate seals seized in a raid on the remnants of his Hermitage investment fund in 2007 to re-register three subsidiaries of the fund under their control. He says the group brought legal cases to manufacture huge, fake liabilities against the subsidiaries. This enabled them to claim fraudulent tax refunds worth $230m, which they then squirrelled away through anonymous western offshore companies. Magnitsky, an accountant — though Mr Browder calls him his lawyer, as he sometimes represented Hermitage in court — gave evidence about the fraud to police, but was later arrested by the very people he was investigating, and accused of tax evasion. After a year in jail, and suffering from gallstones and pancreatitis, he was found dead in his cell. The official cause of death was given as a heart attack. The Browder campaign to publicise the fraud and seek justice for Magnitsky has long made him a hate figure for the Kremlin. In April, a Russian state TV channel aired the fifth film-length attack on Mr Browder in three years. It claimed the US-born fund manager, now a UK citizen, was an MI6 operative codenamed Agent Solomon, who had recruited opposition leader Alexei Navalny in an operation to destroy Russia. The film appeared a crude fake, with mistakes in basic English in “secret” CIA documents shown as evidence of its assertions. It also seemed to have been rushed out in the wake of a revelation in the Panama Papers that $2bn had passed through a network of offshore companies nominally controlled by Sergei Roldugin, a cellist friend of Mr Putin. One of the groups involved in the Panama Papers investigation later reported that some Magnitsky fraud money had passed through part of the same network. Mr Browder and Mr Navalny believe they are being targeted by Yuri Chaika, Russia’s prosecutor-general. Late last year, Mr Chaika claimed a film investigation by Mr Navalny that linked the prosecutor’s family and deputies to Russia’s most notorious criminal gang had been produced by order of Mr Browder and the CIA, a claim dismissed as absurd by both men. The New York connection Outside Russia the most vigorous effort to discredit the Magnitsky story has taken place in a New York court, where a company owned by a 39-year-old Russian, Denis Katsyv, is facing civil forfeiture charges for purchasing real estate with $14m allegedly laundered from the Magnitsky fraud. Mr Katsyv, whose father is vice-president of the st ate-owned Russian Railways, denies the allegations, which do not include criminal charges. The prosecution’s case is largely based on documentation of wire transfers provided by Mr Browder. In court filings, lawyers for Mr Katsyv’s company, Prevezon Holdings, identify what they say are holes in Hermitage’s account of the fraud. Aping Mr Browder’s campaign, the Katsyv camp has hired lobbyists and public relations consultants to urge media to report on its claims. One adviser, Natalia Veselnitskaya, a Russian defence lawyer and friend of the Katsyv family — as well as a vocal Putin supporter — claims Mr Browder’s story is a sham. “I’m the real investigative lawyer that he is trying to build Magnitsky into,” she told the Financial Times. “It’s easy to check. You just have to see if the dates, events, and consequences match up, and always ask yourself: ‘Who benefits from these things happening?’”
In its filings, Prevezon suggests Mr Browder “contrived and skilfully sold” his story “to thwart his arrest” in connection with the tax fraud case for which he was convicted in absentia in 2013, in proceedings that also saw Magnitsky convicted posthumously. The company adds that it is “plausible Browder stole the money from the Russian treasury or, at least, knew about the fraud before it occurred”. The US justice department responded in a counter filing that Prevezon’s accusations that Hermitage was the perpetrator, rather than the victim, of the fraud “are false and are based on an incredibly selective and inaccurate presentation of the evidence”. Making a case Ms Veselnitskaya provides a common link to other parts of the anti-Browder campaign. She helped organise the Brussels screening of Mr Nekrasov’s film. Her claims also dovetail in part with those of the film-maker, whose documentary uses some material from Prevezon’s defence. Mr Nekrasov has a reputation as a Putin critic — so much so that he says Ms Veselnitskaya was reluctant to speak to him. He says he set out to make a “Magnitsky the hero” film after interviewing Mr Browder in 2010. But as filming proceeded he “began to have doubts”. “All I want is to ask questions,” he says. “I have really been a solid opposition guy in Russia . . . and I’m still having problems with the fact that the Russian media is trying to instrumentalise me. I’m losing sleep over it.” As with the Prevezon filings, Mr Nekrasov’s film points to alleged anomalies in the Browder story. He claims Magnitsky did not directly accuse police officers of the $230m fraud as Mr Browder had alleged, in two police interviews in 2008, and did not even name them in one of those interviews. Russian transcripts of the interviews, however, show Magnitsky did accuse them, directly and implicitly, and he did so again in handwritten notes from prison later. The Nekrasov film also disputes whether Magnitsky was really beaten, or deliberately mistreated, in prison, as his supporters have claimed. Lyudmila Alexeyeva, an 88-year-old human rights veteran, took part in an independent inquiry that found evidence the accountant suffered a violent death and she remains convinced in the judgment. Those behind the film, Ms Alexeyeva told a Russian newspaper, “wanted to show that everything that was said first by Magnitsky, then the Panama Papers, is nonsense. You see they need to get sanctions lifted. They decided to start by repudiating the Magnitsky list.” The Prevezon case and the Nekrasov film have begun to influence lobbying activity in the US Congress. Mr Rohrabacher, who chairs the House subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia and emerging threats, led a delegation to the Russian capital in April. A speech writer for Ronald Reagan, Mr Rohrabacher has embraced what the former president once called the “evil empire”. Fund manager seeks inquiry into inflow of alleged ‘Russian dirty money’ Mr Rohrabacher told the FT that while he was in Moscow, Konstantin Kosachev, a senior member of Russia’s upper house, asked if he would “at least take a look at something that our prosecutors would like the Americans to know about”, related to the Magnitsky case. The congressman met prosecutors working for Mr Chaika who handed him a dossier that referred to materials from the New York legal case. Mr Rohrabacher became aware of the Nekrasov documentary soon afterwards. “I don’t take anything our prosecutors in the US say as true without question, much less prosecutors in Russia,” he says. “But I am open to both sides. I want to hear the other side as well.” Arguing that “new information” should be taken into consideration, Mr Rohrabacher sought to delay the global Magnitsky Act and then attempted, unsuccessfully, to remove “Magnitsky” from its name. The bill was ultimately passed by the House Foreign Affairs committee in May. Mr Ekelove-Slydal warns that if lobbying efforts against the Magnitsky Act succeed in generating confusion around it, that could accentuate divisions in Europe over whether to renew sanctions on Russia related to Ukraine. “If you can confuse the Magnitsky case, you can maybe make an argument that sanctions are not the best way to address political issues,” he says. RELATED TOPICS United States of America, America , Vladimir Putin Putin
100,000 flee 'worsening oppression' as Russia tightens grip on Crimea ·
·
Masked men acting in the name of Russia take over an administrative building in Crimea's capital, Simferopol, in 2014.
CREDIT: AFP
David Blair, chief foreign correspondent, kiev 11 JUNE 2016 • 7:29PM
Russia's occupation of Crimea has caused about 100,000 people to flee the territory - twice as many as had been thought - according to new figures compiled by a Ukrainian charity. The number of fugitives has jumped in the last two months because of "worsening repression". repression". From the moment that Russian troops fanned out across Crimea and seized the region from Ukraine in March 2014, those who were unwilling to accept the Kremlin's rule began to leave. Most settled elsewhere in Ukraine, including the capital, Kiev. New evidence suggests this exodus was significantly larger than had been thought. About 21,000 people from Crimea are officially registered in Ukraine as "internally displaced", but many more are known to be undocumented. The total number of fugitives from Crimea was probably between 50,000 and 60,000, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, a Geneva-based group. Russian Sukhoi jets conduct aerobatic displays over Crimea CREDIT: TASS But Tamila Tasheva, the co-founder and coordinator of Crimea SOS, a Ukrainian charity, said the real figure was as high as 100,000. "There are more and more people leaving Crimea as the repression becomes worse," she said. "Our offices are full of requests and applications for help for people and their children." The new estimate is based on data disclosed by Ukraine's authorities. Between January 2015 and April this year, there was a net movement of 73,100 people out of Crimea and into the adjacent region of Ukraine, according according to the National Border Guard Service. That period does not include the first nine months of Russia's occupation, nor the renewed outflow that has occurred since April. Hence Ms Tasheva places the real total of fugitives at around 100,000. As for why this is taking place, campaigners campaigners point to Russia's escalating escalating campaign against against dissent. Arrests Arrests and unexplained disappearances disappearances have become routine routine in Crimea. No-one is regarded with greater suspicion than the Tatar minority, a 230,000-strong community viewed as the original inhabitants of the territory. President Vladimir Vladimir Putin, who ordered the occupation of Crimea in 2014 CREDIT: AP In 1944, the Tatars were deported from Crimea and resettled in Soviet Central Asia. They lived in exile until the 1980s, when Mikhail Gorbachev allowed them to return. Having suffered so grievously at the hands of the Kremlin, Tatars are presumed to oppose the return of Russian rule. Alim, a 17-year-old Tatar, is one of the fugitives from Crimea. Along with his f amily, he left for the safety of Kiev a year ago. "It was uncomfortable being in Crimea - I was afraid to say something wrong," he explained. "I was studying in a Ukrainian school and they converted it into a Russian school with the Russian language." Alim added: "I was af raid because I had pro-Ukrainian views. The Russian security forces were everywhere. If they hear you saying something wrong then, I don't know, there could be a bad reaction." It was uncomfortable being in Crimea - I was afraid to say something wrong/Alim, a 17-year-old Tatar Alim, who did not wish his full name to be disclosed, said that he was afraid to return. "Most of the people I know moved here [to Kiev] after the annexation - not just Tatars but Ukrainians as well. I miss Crimea, but I'm not going to go back." The evidence suggests that the pace of departures is quickening again. Last November, the Kiev office of Crimea SOS received only 14 requests for help from displaced people. The following month, December 2015, it recorded no requests at all.
But in April this year, by contrast, 183 people contacted the charity to ask for assistance. Another 97 did so in May. "There is an atmosphere of fear in Crimea - that's why citizens feel forced to leave," said Ms Tasheva. Last year, Russia prevented the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) from sending a human rights assessment mission to Crimea. The group gathered evidence elsewhere in Ukraine and interviewed people remotely inside Crimea. They concluded that Russian rule had "dramatically impacted" on the "human rights and fundamental freedoms" of all residents of Crimea, particularly those "who were opposed to the annexation". However, Russia points to Ukraine's own behaviour to explain any hardships. Last November, Ukraine's government government cut off Crimea's electricity, leaving the region in darkness for over two weeks. Russia has since been able to guarantee Crimea's power supply. But Ms Tasheva pointed out that Russia, as the occupying power, has legal responsibility for the welfare of the region's people. "Of course we might name Ukraine as responsible because they don't make life easier for the people of Crimea," she said. "But Russia is ultimately responsible because they are occupying the territory. "
---------- Forwarded message ---------From: Seanachie Holodonika > Date: Sun, Jun 12, 2016 at 5:41 PM Subject: Don't let the russkiis get cocky about how they won the war To: W EMAIL , Roman Karpishka Email , MYKOLA KOTCHERHA , >, Lesia Chernihivska , Wyatt Email , >, Alex Motyl , "Andrij Baran, MD" , >, [email protected][email protected],, Alexander Kuzma, 40 MORE
Hi, Hi,
As followup to one of my poems of recent weeks re how Lend-Lease helped the Sovs kick a lot of Nazi butt during the war, I have been reading one of the surprisingly few books about the Lend-Lease program: Lend-Lease: weapon for victory _by Edward _ Lend-Lease: Edward R. Stettin Stettinius, ius, Jr. Jr. (NY: The The Macmillan Macmillan Co., Co., 1944): 1944): OCLC: OCLC: 394271. 394271.
By summer 1942, he writes, "... We had shipped more than 2000 light and medium tanks and 1300 planes.… The British sent even more--over 2400 tanks and over 1800 planes.
"The planes that went to Russia Moscow protocol were Curtiss P-40 fighters, North American-B-25 Mitchell's, and Douglas DB-7 dive bombers and the later A-20 attack bombers.… The Russians are enormously impressed with the performance of our A-20s (207-208).
Interesting regarding the expansion of the Gulag camps that coexisted with rigors of the war, "A second military item is barbed wire, of which we have sent 216,000 miles of it" (209).
Solzhenitsyn wrote about he and Lev Kopelev worked in a special prison on voice print analysis, as a way authenticating who said what to whom in wartime communications, but which technology Stalin also made use of in intercepting and identifying who said what to whom in civilian telephone communications, then used as evidence in various arrests. "Aside from these items--planes, tanks, trucks, and jeeps--we have sent relatively little fighting equipment to the Soviet, with three important exceptions. The first is field telephone equipment and telephone wire. One reason the Soviet forces have been able to maintain good communications all along live 2000 miles front is the fact that we have sent 189,000 field telephones and over 670,000 Miles of wire--enough to go around the world 27 times" (209). That kind of big question why as they advanced back-and-forth across occupied areas including their share of Germany, why did they tear up everything that wasn't nailed down and a lot that was, by way of telephone poles and wire, railroad ties, etc. Did they Need this wire and stuff, or were they just being destructively covetous? As Napoleon and Hitler both learned, Generals Mud and Snow caused endless suffering and very many deaths among the forces ill-clad for the severe weather. "… the boots which we have sent to Russia have made up an essential part of the red Army's equipment. Anyone who is ever seen photographs of captured Nazi soldiers on the Russian front, with their frozen or gangrenous feet wrapped in bloody cloths, can understand how important good footwear is in the fighting there. The Red Army must have boots capable of withstanding the heavy snow in the extreme cold of Russian winters in the deep mud of spring and fall. Livestock losses during 1941 campaign resulted in a critical shortage of leather in Russia, and we sent 10,500 tons of shoe loather under the Moscow Protocol [A copy of which is in the appendix of this book]
But Russia's factories, even with this help, could not keep up with the Red Army's needs and we sent at the same time 1,500,000 pairs of American-made army boots. Since then our shipments have risen to 4 million pairs. And Great Britain has sent another 3 million pairs. "Besides the standard boots, the Red Army asked if we could supply 'Vitiajnye' boots, a high leather, felt-lined type of Russian boot which is wonderfully watertight. Such boots have been made by hand for centuries in Russia for use in melting snow and ice; now we sought to make them in quantities by modern factory methods. It was a difficult job, but we finally discovered a man in the United States who knew all about the subject. [and here's the wry part] He was the former head of the Tsar's boot factory. We asked his help in making boots for the Soviet. He went to work, and a machine process for making the boots was quickly perfected. Red Army men are wearing them today" (210).
How wry that someone who probably had to flee the country to save his own life and that of his loved ones (no doubt), ended up being the very fellow able to provide what "the great Stalin" and his minions couldn't--or wouldn't.
Just saying!
Cher
Cheryl A. Madden, Order of Princess Olha
Let us dare to read, Think, write, And speak." ~John Adams~ (1735-1826)
---------- Forwarded message ---------From: Nic Marsh > Date: Sun, Jun 12, 2016 at 5:51 PM Subject: FW: Fighting in Eastern Ukraine; History of the war; Talks; Sanctions; Ukraine forces; Ukraine polity; Russian society; Russian polity; NATO; Nuclear; Belarus; Kazakhstan; Georgia; Sport To:
Fighting in Eastern Ukraine
Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine, based on information received as of 19:30, 10 June 2016 The SMM observed more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared to the previous day. Several explosions occurred in the vicinity of the SMM near Stanytsia Luhanska bridge. The Mission continued to monitor the withdrawal of heavy weapons; it also noted armoured combat vehicles, an anti-aircraft gun and an unmanned aerial vehicle in the security zone.” http://www.osce.org/ukraine-smm/246251
Two Ukrainian soldiers killed, ten wounded as militants launch dozens of attacks along the frontline http://uatoday.tv/politics/two-ukrainian-soldiers-killed-ten-wounded-as-militants-launch-dozens-of-attacks-along-the-frontline-670981.html
ATO HQ: Russian proxies attack Ukraine 49 times in last day http://www.unian.info/war http://www.u nian.info/war/1372996-ato/1372996-ato-hq-russian hq-russian-proxies-at -proxies-attack-ukraine-4 tack-ukraine-49-times-in9-times-in-last-day.ht last-day.html ml
Russia deploys tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, self-propelled artillery units in Khartsyzk http://www.unian.info/war/1372680-russia-deploys-tanks-infantry-fighting-vehicles-self-propelled-artillery-units-in-khartsyzk.html
History of the war
Remains of Russian army servicemen found in Ukraine's east http://uatoday.tv/society/remains-of-russian-army-servicemen-found-in-ukraine-s-east-670822.html
Talks
Ukraine's Savchenko: Without Peace, The War 'Will Last Forever' But after her experience on the frontline of the war, in Russian captivity, and visiting eastern Ukraine recently, she says such direct talks are crucial, as are conciliatory steps like an amnesty for locals who took up arms against Kyiv but did not commit serious crimes. http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-savchenko-interview-conflict-elections-sanctions-russia/27791997.html
White House Aide Says Deal To End Ukraine Conflict Possible By Year's End The White House is pushing for implementation of a deal to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine before President Barack Obama leaves office, national-security adviser Susan Rice has said. http://www.rferl.org/cont http://www.r ferl.org/content/white-hous ent/white-house-aide-rice-s e-aide-rice-says-russiaays-russia-ukraine-peace-p ukraine-peace-possible-byossible-by-yearend-impleme yearend-implement-minsk-deal nt-minsk-deal/27789793.htm /27789793.htmll
Sanctions
Putin Is Trying To Bully Europe Into Dropping Sanctions “A top goal of Russian foreign policy is to erode Western opposition to its aggression in Ukraine. But many of Moscow’s tactics are clumsy and self-defeating. Not surprisingly, the European Union is likely once again to renew sanctions. […] But Russia’s overall effort is weakened by internal contradictions. How has Moscow erred? Seeing Europeans as weak, unprincipled and gullible, the Kremlin angers and dismays them by its war on Ukraine and associated propaganda. A similar error in the early 1980s caused Moscow to fail to achieve its top foreign policy goal—dissuading NATO from deploying Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) missiles in Europe as a counter to comparable Soviet SS-20 missiles. http://europe.newsweek.com/ http://europe. newsweek.com/putin-tryingputin-trying-bully-europebully-europe-dropping-san dropping-sanctions-468479 ctions-468479 [Sent by Stefan Forss]
Ukraine, Russia and the EU: Breaking the deadlock in the Minsk process “Given the persistent deadlock in the Ukraine crisis, the leaders of the EU ought to agree to prolong the sanctions against Russia, push for the renegotiation of the Minsk II agreement and widen the ‘Normandy format’ to include the US and bolster reforms in Ukraine.” http://www.ceps.eu/publicatio http://www.ceps .eu/publications/ukraine-rus ns/ukraine-russia-and-eu-br sia-and-eu-breaking-deadlockeaking-deadlock-minsk-proces minsk-processs
Why EU Sanctions on Russia Are Overrated but Still Needed http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/why-eu-sanctions-on-russia-and-their-possible-cancellation-are-overrated-but-still-needed#.V1vnhvQP_pk.twitter
Ukraine forces
Foreigners allowed to serve in Ukraine's army http://uatoday.tv/society/foreigners-allowed-to-serve-in-ukraine-s-army-670559.html
Ukraine polity
AP Interview: Savchenko Calls For Early Elections In Ukraine http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_UKRAINE_SAVCHENKO?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Russian society
When Russia glimpsed freedom for a moment By David E. Hoffman “When protests by the young and middle class broke out in Moscow against Putin in 2011, he was “angry and rattled.” His subsequent war in Ukraine was accompanied by an ever-more-destructive propaganda campaign on television and elsewhere in which anti-Americanism was drilled into the minds of the Russian people. “This hell cannot end peacefully,” the reformer Boris Nemtsov, who opposed the war, wrote on Facebook in May 2014. Ten months later he was murdered, shot in the back, just beyond the Kremlin walls.
It is a terribly sad ending to the epoch of Russian freedom, but Ostrovsky asserts that this cannot be the last turn of events. He quotes the late economist Yegor Gaidar, who once said that “big changes happen later than we think but earlier than we expect.” In Russia, certainly.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions http://www.washingt onpost.com/opinions/when-russia-glim /when-russia-glimpsed-freedom-for psed-freedom-for-a-moment/2016/06/09/ -a-moment/2016/06/09/0ba58d8c-0192-11e6-b8230ba58d8c-0192-11e6-b823-707c79ce3504_story.ht 707c79ce3504_story.html ml [Sent by Milton Leitenberg]
Russia Facing Biggest Brain Drain in Two Decades http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/russia-facing-biggest-brain-drain-in-two-decades/571758.html
TV listings in Russian newspapers warn about government ‘propaganda’ http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/06/10/tv-listings-in-russian-newspapers-warn-about-government-propaganda/# [Sent by Milton Leitenberg]
Russian polity
Russian Elite Not Only Believes Its Own Propaganda But is Basing Its Actions on It, New Russian Document Shows http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.no/2016/06/russian-elite-not-only-believes-its-own.html
NATO
A Schengen Zone for NATO Why the Alliance Needs Open Borders for Troops http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/russian-federation/2016-06-06/schengen-zone-nato
Nuclear
What Exactly Would It Mean to Have Trump’s Finger on the Nuclear Button? A nuclear launch expert plays out the various scenarios. http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/06/2016-donald-trump-nuclear-weapons-missiles-nukes-button-launch-foreign-policy-213955#ixzz4BNCl3O5T
Belarus
U.S. extends sanctions against Belarus http://uatoday.tv/politics/u-s-extends-sanctions-against-belarus-670954.html
Kazakhstan
Nazarbayev Nazar bayev on the the Rocks: Rocks: 'Terror,' 'Terror,' 'Coup' 'Coup' Claims Claims Shake Shake Kazakhstan Kazakhstan http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/571550.html
Georgia
Georgian NATO Cooperation Laid Low By Chicken Pox http://www.eurasianet.org/node/79196
Sport
'Disgusted' UEFA investigates Russian fan violence at Euro 2016 http://www.reuters.com/article/ushttp://www.reuter s.com/article/us-soccer-euro-secur soccer-euro-security-idUSKCN0YY0D ity-idUSKCN0YY0D9 9 [There was a lot of violence by English supporters outside the ground as well]
____________________________ Nicholas Nich olas Marsh Marsh
From:
Bob
Sent time:
04/29/2016 06:01:19 AM
To:
John Williams
Subject:
Re: EU parliament hosts Russian propaganda circus
Pavlov is the lawyer. If interested do an integrum search on Anin and Pavlov. I used one of the articles in an in brief. Sent from my iPad On Apr 29, 2016, at 5:58 AM, John Williams < [email protected][email protected]> > wrote:
what a farce...
On Friday, April 29, 2016 8:29 AM, Bob > wrote:
The trail of stolen Russian taxpayers' money goes to the highest levels of the Kremlin (Photo: kremlin.ru)) kremlin.ru Two Russian officials - Pavel Karpov and Andrey Andrey Pavlo Pavlov v - attended attended the event. event. They came despite the fact the EU parliament, in 2014, put them on a list of 32 people it holds responsible for Magnitsky’s killing. The US blacklisted them for the same reason. MEPs and congressmen said they and their associates stole $230 million from the Russian taxpayer and laundered the money via European banks and offshore entities. Natalia Veselnitskaya, a lawyer-lobbyist for Prevezon, a firm on trial in the US for laundering the funds, also came to the EU premiere. The film accuses Magnitsky and his former employer, Bill Browder, of stealing the money and absolves Karpov and Pavlov. Karpov and Pavlov hurled accusations at Magnitsky (pictured) ZDF, the German public broadcaster behind the in the EU parliament on Wednesday (Photo: Hermitage Capital) movie, cancelled the showing at the last minute citing technical and legal concerns. But Russian TV gave prime time coverage to Karpov and Pavlov’s statements. They said ZDF’s decision meant that there’s no free speech in the EU. “That the film was so easily removed from … the European Parliament demonstrates that the right to freedom of speech here is only provided to one side,” Veselnitskaya told Tass, a pro-Kremlin news agency. FTI Consulting, a lobby firm in the EU capital, circulated her statement to media. FTI Consulting’s Aled Williams, a former British diplomat who was until last December the UK’s spokesman in Brussels, fixed meetings between the Prevezon lawyer and journalists. FTI Consulting’s entry in the European Commission transparency register does not list Prevezon.
Karpov and Pavlov Heidi Hautala, a Finnish Green MEP who organised the premiere, defended her decision to invite Karpov and Pavlov. “They’re not on any travel ban list … So why should we limit their right to travel when they have the right to travel?”, she told this website. The EU parliament list of 32 people is not legally binding on EU states. Her invitation prompted complaints from other MEPs. Petras Austrevicius, a Lithuanian liberal MEP, told a plenary debate in Brussels on Thursday the fact
the two men “were not only let into this house, but had a possibility to make their interventions” is “an issue of the integrity of our own decisions.” EU states and the EU foreign service in the past declined to impose visa bans on the group-of-32. But MEPs from leading groups - the EPP, the S&D, ECR, Alde and the Greens - are to write to EU foreign relations chief Federica Mogherini urging her to take action. “Ironically, the effort to discredit me had the opposite effect,” Browder told EUobserver. “Many people in the European Parliament have taken a new interest [in the issue] and plan to put pressure on the EU Council [where member states meet] to implement the 32-person Magnitsky sanctions list.” Browder and a German Green Bundestag member, Marieluise Beck, had warned ZDF that the film contains libellous accusations. EUobserver asked ZDF why they pulled it and if they still planned to show it on 3 May on national TV. The broadcaster declined to comment. Andrei Andrei Nekrasov Nekrasov,, the Russian film-ma film-maker ker who directed directed the movie movie and who stars in it as its narrator, narrator, told this website he’s confident “they’re still behind me.”
Propaganda Nekrasov said he did not know the pro-Kremlin TV crews would come to the EU premiere. “I never told them that there’s was no freedom of speech in the West. Of course, that’s not true,” he said. “I don’t think I said that. Of course, you can cut film in certain ways and add a voiceover and make it look as if these are my thoughts.” Austrevic Austrevicius ius said Wednesda Wednesday’s y’s events events “didn’t bring bring any prestige” prestige” to the EU assembly. assembly. Andrew Andrew Stroe Stroehle hlein in from from Human Human Rights Rights Watch, Watch, a New York-ba York-based sed NGO, NGO, said on Twitte Twitter: r: “Why is Green Green Party in EuroParliament hosting film attacking Magnitsky, who was tortured to death in Russian custody?”.
Green group The Green group said it had nothing to do with Hautala’s premiere. “I think I will survive this,” Hautala said. Nekrasov, her personal friend, said no Russian money was involved in his Magnitsky film. The OCCRP, a club of investigative reporters in Europe, this week linked the stolen $230 million of Russian tax money to the highest levels of the Kremlin. Documents obtained in the Panama Papers leak showed that Russian leader Vladimir Putin's close friend, Sergei Rudolgin, took $800,000 from one of the firms used to launder the funds.
Sent from my iPad
From:
John Williams
Sent time:
04/29/2016 05:58:41 AM
To:
Bob
Subject:
Re: EU parliament hosts Russian propaganda circus
what a farce...
On Friday, April 29, 2016 8:29 AM, Bob wrote:
The trail of stolen Russian taxpayers' money goes to the highest levels of the Kremlin (Photo: kremlin.ru kremlin.ru)) Two Russian officials - Pavel Karpov and Andrey Karpov and Pavlov hurled accusations at Magnitsky (pictured) in the EU parliament on Wednesday (Photo: Hermitage Capital) Pavlov - attended the event. They came despite the fact the EU parliament, in 2014, put them on a list of 32 people it holds responsible for Magnitsky’s killing. The US blacklisted them for the same reason. MEPs and congressmen said they and their associates stole $230 million from the Russian taxpayer and laundered the money via European banks and offshore entities. Natalia Veselnitskaya, a lawyer-lobbyist for Prevezon, a firm on trial in the US for laundering the funds, also came to the EU premiere. The film accuses Magnitsky and his former employer, Bill Browder, of stealing the money and absolves Karpov and Pavlov. ZDF, the German public broadcaster behind the movie, cancelled the showing at the last minute citing technical and legal concerns. But Russian TV gave prime time coverage to Karpov and Pavlov’s statements. They said ZDF’s decision meant that there’s no free speech in the EU. “That the film was so easily removed from … the European Parliament demonstrates that the right to freedom of speech here is only provided to one side,” Veselnitskaya told Tass, a pro-Kremlin news agency. FTI Consulting, a lobby firm in the EU capital, circulated her statement to media. FTI Consulting’s Aled Williams, a former British diplomat who was until last December the UK’s spokesman in Brussels, fixed meetings between the Prevezon lawyer and journalists. FTI Consulting’s entry in the European Commission transparency register does not list Prevezon.
Karpov and Pavlov Heidi Hautala, a Finnish Green MEP who organised the premiere, defended her decision to invite Karpov and Pavlov. “They’re not on any travel ban list … So why should we limit their right to travel when they have the right to travel?”, she told this website. The EU parliament list of 32 people is not legally binding on EU states. Her invitation prompted complaints from other MEPs. Petras Austrevicius, a Lithuanian liberal MEP, told a plenary debate in Brussels on Thursday the fact the two men “were not only let into this house, but had a possibility to make their interventions” is “an issue of the integrity of our own decisions.” EU states and the EU foreign service in the past declined to impose visa bans on the group-of-32. But MEPs from leading groups - the EPP, the S&D, ECR, Alde and the Greens - are to write to EU foreign relations chief Federica Mogherini urging her to take action. “Ironically, the effort to discredit me had the opposite effect,” Browder told EUobserver. “Many people in the European Parliament have taken a new interest [in the issue] and plan to put pressure on the EU Council [where member states meet] to implement the 32-person Magnitsky sanctions list.” Browder and a German Green Bundestag member, Marieluise Beck, had warned ZDF that the film contains libellous accusations. EUobserver asked ZDF why they pulled it and if they still planned to show it on 3 May on national TV. The broadcaster declined to comment. Andrei Andrei Nekrasov Nekrasov,, the Russian Russian film-maker film-maker who directe directed d the movie and who stars stars in it as its narrator, narrator, told this this website he’s confident “they’re still behind me.”
Propaganda
Nekrasov said he did not know the pro-Kremlin TV crews would come to the EU premiere. “I never told them that there’s was no freedom of speech in the West. Of course, that’s not true,” he said. “I don’t think I said that. Of course, you can cut film in certain ways and add a voiceover and make it look as if these are my thoughts.” Austrevici Austrevicius us said Wednesday’ Wednesday’s s events “didn’t “didn’t bring any prestige” prestige” to the EU assembly. assembly. Andrew Andrew Stroeh Stroehlei lein n from Human Human Rights Rights Watch, Watch, a New York-b York-base ased d NGO, said said on Twitter: Twitter: “Why “Why is Green Green Party Party in EuroParliament hosting film attacking Magnitsky, who was tortured to death in Russian custody?”.
Green group The Green group said it had nothing to do with Hautala’s premiere. “I think I will survive this,” Hautala said. Nekrasov, her personal friend, said no Russian money was involved in his Magnitsky film. The OCCRP, a club of investigative reporters in Europe, this week linked the stolen $230 million of Russian tax money to the highest levels of the Kremlin. Documents obtained in the Panama Papers leak showed that Russian leader Vladimir Putin's close friend, Sergei Rudolgin, took $800,000 from one of the firms used to launder the funds.
Sent from my iPad
From:
Wayne Allensworth
Sent time:
04/29/2016 01:36:23 PM
To:
Wayne and Stacy Allensworth
Subject:
Internet Notes 29 April 2016
Attachments:
IN29April16.docx
Internet Notes 29 April 2016 More from Rosbalt on the Nemtsov murder investigation (Khatayev) European TV channel holds up airing Nekrasov’s film on Magnitskiy Kashin on the Magnitskiy affair/Roldugin connection Zolotov and Kudrin: What’s the Kremlin up to?
Novaya Gazeta Gazeta on the the end of the democra democratic tic coaliti coalition on A crisis in the Russian opposition? (Kasyanov) Belkovskiy on Navalniy/Yashin vs. Kasyanov Consumer confidence at a low point NOD activist activistss attack attack participan participants ts at “Memoria “Memorial” l” event event Lavrov on Russia’s aiming for self sufficiency
More from Rosbalt on the Nemtsov murder investigation (Khatayev)
http://www.rosbalt.ru/moscow/2016/04/27/1510020.html The Investigative Committee (SK) is looking for a Chechen MVD officer, Aslambek Khatayev, who visited the apartment in Moscow where Ruslan Geremeyev was staying and met with other suspects in Moscow hotels…Khatayev was in Moscow on assignment as part of a security detail for Chechen officials ( Comment: Which is what we heard about some of the other suspects ), though it is not clear who the official or officials were. Investigators believe Khatayev left Moscow for Chechnya…Investigators Chechnya…Investigators now say that all of the suspects were involved in debt collecting—they received half of recovered debts. When the debt collectors encountered a debt owed by someone with connections, they called in Geremeyev as their “heavy artillery” …Comment: Recall the item we saw back in the 19 February notes on the brutal tactics employed by debt collectors and complaints against them. Here’s more: http://www.interpretermag.com/russia-update-april-27-2016/ Attorneys Vadim Prokhorov and Olga Mikhailova who represents the interests of Zhanna Nemtsova, daughter of slain opposition leader Boris Nemtsov say several more individuals were involved in Nemtsov's murder who have not been indicted, RBC.ru reports.
The attorneys submitted a statement today to Nikolai Tutevich, the senior special cases investigator assigned to Nemtsov's case. Nemtsov was assassinated February 27, 2015 and the case has not yet come to trial, although four suspects are in custody on charges of perpetrating or assisting in the murder.
The statement references case files that indicate that Russia's Investigative Committee believes that Ruslan Geremeyev, an officer of the Sever Battalion within the Interior Ministry Internal Tropos in Chechnya, organized the murder, along with his brother Artur. These troops were recently reorganized into the National Guard, and some have speculated that this restructuring was meant to rein in armed forces that had come to be regarded as "the personal army" of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.
According to the Russian registry of businesses, businesses, Artur Artur Geremeyev is the owner of one of the apartments that figures in the case, no. 46 Veyernaya Street. (For our complete analysis of the suspects' movements and locations, see here here;; see also our translation of Novaya Gazeta 's " How Boris Nemtsov Was Murdered." Murdered."
The attorneys' petition also mentions Alibek Delimkhanov, commander of the Sovet Battalion and relative of the powerful Chechen State Duma member Adam Delimkhanov, as well as two others not previously mentioned: Aslanbek Khatayev, an officer of the Chechen Interior Ministry and Shamkhan Tazabayev -- a person with this name holds a post as deputy director of the Lenin District Center for Public Social Services in Chechnya). Finally, Suleyman Geremeyev, a powerful Chechen senator related to Ruslan Geremeyev, and Vakha Geremekhev, head of the District Department of Interior Affairs [the police] for Shelkovsky District in Chechnya are indicated in the statement as well. The attorneys have repeatedly asked for Suleyman and Vakha Geremeyev to be interrogated. Investigators have refused.
RBC sites sources that say investigators did try to issue charges in absentia against Ruslan Geremeyev, but both times Aleksandr Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee, turned down the request, saying there was insufficient evidence.
screenshot of a surveillance camera at the President Hotel in Moscow, where Chechen assassins with contracts are said to gather, showing Ruslan Geremeyevl, who reportedly fled Russia but may have returned now, and a suspect who is already in custody, Novaya Gazeta obtained a screenshot of Tamerlan Eskerkhanov.
RBC is currently seeking clarification from the Investigative Committee.
As RBC reported earlier, in January, Tutevich decided to separate out from the main murder case the case of the supposed organizers of the assassination, Ruslan Geremeyev and his driver, Ruslan Mukhudinov, along with six others not named who were said to propose to Zaur Dadayev, a Sever officer designated as the main perpetrator, to kill Nemtsov for 15 million rubles (about $229,000).
The Nemtsov family attorneys have called for keeping the cases together because otherwise it is not clear why the perpetrators had a motivation to kill Nemtsov. As their statement indictates (translation by The Interpreter) : "From the materials of the criminal case it follows that the investigation avoided a proper investigation of Nemtsov's murder, and did not establish the motives for his murder which guided the organizers. Moreover, a decisions was artificially and unlawfully made by the investigation to end the preliminary investigation on the main, so-called "parent case."
The attorneys believe the investigators should have kept the cases united and pursued the leads more vigorously instead of closing a case that points to powerful individuals in the entourage of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.
Basically, to pin the organization of the murder on an officer's driver in a separate case that won't be tried (because he has fled abroad), then only focusing on the immediate facts of the perpetration of the murder -- as they have done with so many cases involving public critics before -- the Investigative Committee is indicating once again that it can't take on Kadyrov. Thus speculation that the National Guard reorganization has "reined in" Kadyrov may not have merit unless the Kremlin believes it can control Kadyrov going forward by closing the book on his past crimes. -- Catherine A. Fitzpatrick
European TV channel holds up airing Nekrasov’s film on Magnitskiy
See yesterday’s notes.
http://www.rferl.mobi/a/m http://www.r ferl.mobi/a/magnitsky-film-on-h agnitsky-film-on-hold-european-tv-channel old-european-tv-channel-arte/27704772.html -arte/27704772.html BRUSSELS -- A European television channel will not air a controversial new documentary next week on Sergei Magnitsky, the lawyer who helped uncover a massive tax fraud case in Russia and later died in a Russian jail, as previously planned. Claude-Anne Savin, a spokeswoman for ARTE European, said the Franco-German channel is reviewing the film in response to complaints about its accuracy to "make sure the film is clean." Despite the cancellation of the May 3 airing of the film, titled The Magnitsky Act -- Behind The Scenes, Savin said the channel still might air it "in a few weeks." ARTE pulled the promotional tease for the film from its website.
Lawyer Sergei Magnitsky The film, which was shot by Russian documentary filmmaker Andrei Nekrasov, was scheduled to premiere at the European Parliament on April 27. That showing was canceled following complaints from Magnitsky's relatives and former colleagues. German parliamentarian Marieluise Beck also complained that footage of her staff was used without permission.
Magnitsky blew the whistle on a $230 million tax-fraud scheme and died in 2009 while being held on fraud charges in a Moscow pretrial detention facility. His family and friends say that, prior to his death, he was beaten, tortured, and denied medical care. William Browder, a U.S.-born British investor who employed Magnitsky and has led the international campaign to hold Moscow accountable for his death, says he sent ARTE a list of "factual errors" in the film and warned them they would be legally accountable for knowingly broadcasting false statements. "It is one thing to have free speech, but it is another thing to try to manipulate and to use lies, innuendo, and fabrications to make a point which isn't true," Browder told RFE/RL. "That's why there are libel laws out there to protect people from this type of thing."
William Browder "The movie is just a collection of lies and fabrications, which desecrates the memory of Sergei Magnitsky and changes the whole story of how he died," Browder added. Browder’s campaign on behalf of Magnitsky resulted in the U.S. Congress passing a law in 2012 sanctioning several Russian officials for their alleged involvement in the lawyer’s death. The law deeply angered Moscow. Nekrasov has produced several films highly critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He was a f riend of former Russian Federal Security Ser vice officer Aleksandr Litvinenko, who was killed by a radioactive substance in London in 2006. His 2007 documentary about that case premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and was shown in Moscow at the Sakharov Center human rights organization. His 2010 film, Russian Lessons, about the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia, exposed falsifications and manipulations undertaken by Russian state television in covering events before, during, and after that conflict. But his Magnitsky film is decidedly different. Nekrasov wrote an April 27 blog post that the film changed his "consciousness…and, probably, my life." The film asserts that Magnitsky was not beaten while in police custody and that he did not make any specific allegations against individuals in his testimony to Russian authorities, Nekrasov writes. In an interview with RFE/RL on April 27, Nekrasov said he began the film with the intention of telling the story of how Magnitsky uncovered the tax fraud and was killed in order to silence him. This sequence of events has been thoroughly documented by Browder and others -- including, in part, by the Kremlin's own human rights council. Nekrasov, however, says that making the film changed his mind. "I didn't abandon that narrative easily because I was ideologically very close to Browder," he said. "I was also a regime critic, honestly, on a lot of counts. But if we are not telling the truth, then it makes it easier for the bad guys to carry on doing their bad things." The aborted April 27 screening at the European Parliament was organized by Finnish lawmaker Heidi Hautala, a member of the Green Party. Rebecca Harms, president of the Greens at the European Parliament, chamber.
wrote on Twitter that the planned screening was "not an event of the Greens" group in the legislative
Hautala, like Nekrasov, has a long record of defending human rights and of criticizing Russia. She was a sponsor of the original 2010 European Parliament resolution calling for EU member states to impose sanctions against Russian officials involved in the Magnitsky case, similar to the U.S. sanctions. According to Finnish media, she has also been romantically linked to Nekrasov.
She told the EU Observer website on April 27 that "we are close friends; I've known him [for] many years."
"It is very important to verify the facts and listen to different parties," she said in an interview with RFE/RL. "I'm very interested to see what the consequences of the film of Andrei Nekrasov will be when they will be openly discussed, openly available, when one day there will be no harassment against the screening of this film." Another organizer of the canceled Brussels premiere was Russian lawyer Natalya Veselnitskaya. She is a defense lawyer for Russian businessman Denis Katsyv, (See the 28 April notes) who is the target of a U.S. federal civil forfeiture case in New York concerning alleged money laundering linked to the Magnitsky case. In November, a U.S. federal prosecutor submitted a letter to the judge in the case saying that Veselnitskaya, Katsyv, and others involved in the action
racked up more than $50,000 in expenses on the U.S. government’s dime during a four-day deposition in New York.
The costs included a two-night stay at the Plaza Hotel "in a $995/night room for Natalia Veselnitskaya, who was not deposed and did not even attend the depositions in person, for the weekend after the depositions had concluded," U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara wrote in the letter. "Ms. Veselnitskaya appears to have stayed at a less expensive hotel during the depositions, but moved to the Plaza after the depositions concluded and only after the Court orally stated that the Government would be responsible for reimbursing Defendants' expenses," Bharara added. German lawmaker Elmar Brok, chairman of the Foreign Aff airs Committee in the European Parliament, told RFE/RL the effort to show the film at the parliament was "a wrong idea." "This is a piece of propaganda that should not be part of our parliamentary work," he said. He added that he is "looking into" the matter of whether ARTE should have been involved in the project. The channel relies on "financial support from the European Union," according to the channel's website, with the goal to "produce television programs which…are…conducive to promoting understanding and cooperation between Europe's nations." Petras Austrevicius, a Lithuanian member of the European Parliament who also serves on the Foreign Affairs Committee, told RFE/RL that the push to screen the film for the chamber was one of several moves "by the Russian authorities" in order "to weaken Western confidence in its policy line" and secure a review of EU sanctions against Russia later this year. "And I expect more and more actions like this in the months to come," Austrevicius added. "And probably in a very creative way."
Kashin on the Magnitskiy affair/Roldugin connection
See yesterday’s notes. http://rus2web.ru/mneniya/gotovyi-li-myi-poverit-novoj-versii-ubijstva-magnitskog.html
…Are we ready to believe that the money stolen in the Magnitskiy affair wound up in “Putin’s purse”? Take it a step further—are we ready to believe that the money was stolen by Putin? That’s a question right up there in importance with, say, the question “are we ready to believe believe that the the FSB carried carried out out the 1999 1999 apartment apartment bombing bombings?” s?” …In …In situations situations like like this this in the past, past, Russian Russian public public opinion opinion has sided sided with with Putin—ju Putin—just st try and and find a respect respectable able critic critic of of vlast who who is willing willing to, to, for instance instance,, say that that Putin blew blew up the the apartments apartments.. Ekho Moskvy, Moskvy, for for instance, maintains a presumption of innocence for Putin…The answer to the question about the Magnitskiy affair money and Putin will be given by people like Sobchak and Venediktov…A better question is are we ready to believe those who will defend Putin? Zolotov and Kudrin: What’s the Kremlin up to?
The Kremlin Is Entrenching Itself By Maxim Trudolyubov… Traditional opposition in Russia, negligibly small and weak, is no longer a target of the Kremlin’s designs. Putin is now dealing with challenges that are invisible to the naked eye. The year 2017 will mark the centennial of the Russian Revolution; an occasion too symbolic to ignore. The year 2018 will see presidential elections, and Putin will announce whether or not he will try to remain in the Kremlin for yet another term. Two major political projects, both launched in April and both involving men close to Vladimir Putin, may help us understand the Kremlin’s thinking about its future. One project has to do with domestic security; the other is about strategic policy planning. Both were long in the making and are the Kremlin’s responses to mounting economic and political pressures. The first project is Putin’s decision, announced in early April, to create a new security agency, the National Guard of Russia. Putin chose Viktor Zolotov, the long-time head of the president’s personal security unit who served as Commander of the Russian Interior Troops for the past two years, to lead the new force. The Interior Troops, Interior Aviation, OMON (riot police), SOBR (the Russian equivalent of SWAT force), a security corporation formerly run by the Interior Ministry, the weapons licensing department of the Interior Ministry – all of these structures, numbering up to 400,000 members (roughly 200,000 of them professional military service personnel) have now become part of the National Guard remit. The bodyguard-in-chief, Zolotov, has thus been elevated to a Security Tsar of Russia . All weapon-wielding forces, with the exception of the Federal Guard Service tasked with protecting top officials, and FSB’s small special forces, will now report to Zolotov, who will in turn report directly to Putin. Through the weapon licensing service he will also have effective control over all private military and security firms in Russia. A new “corps of gendarmes” is being created at the expense of the Interior Ministry. Two former security agencies, a drug enforcement administration and an immigration agency are being cut in size and put under the command of the Interior Minister. Grom, a special force for anti-drug special operations, will also likely move from the Interior to the National Guard. The Special Corps of Gendarmes security police that existed in Russia in the 19 th and early 20 th centuries, may be seen as a precursor to the newly created force. It also may be compared to the French gendarmerie or the Italian carabinieri rather than the U.S. National Guard, which is a reserve military force. No visible domestic threats s eem to warrant such a massive security centralization in Russia. The second telling decision is that of giving Alexei Kudrin, who served as Finance Minister for 11 years and was also the first Deputy Prime Minister, a leading role in the drafting of a future reform program. Just like Zolotov, Kudrin worked with Putin for a long time. Both Kudrin and Putin moved from St. Petersburg to Moscow in 1996 at the invitation of Anatoly Chubais, then Boris Yeltsin’s chief of staff. Kudrin will now chair the Center for Strategic Research , a think tank once close to the Kremlin. Kudrin is treading carefully. He advocates institutional reform, placing judiciary and law enforcement reforms at the forefront of his agenda, but stops short of calling the current system accountable for mismanagement and corruption. He even let slip the word perestroika, perestroika, a taboo in the Kremlin, but only in passin g . This is comfortable politics for the Kremlin, as well as for most pro-modernization forces within Russian society. Little seemed to preclude Putin from elevating Kudrin to the role of a “reform tsar” but the president decided not to. Kudrin’s new position feels underwhelming. Kudrin was forced to leave the government in 2011 after a public row with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev over military spending. In 2012, Kudrin created the Committee of Civic Initiatives, an NGO with a mission to help society influence government decisions. Between 2012 and 2016, Kudrin retained his influence with the Kremlin while acquiring respect as a civil society player. He sponsored a number of research projects and policy proposals that were met with much interest on both sides of the Kremlin walls. A draft of the Interior Ministry reform that Kudrin sponsored and presented in 2013 was based on depth study of Russian police, conducted originally by the European University in St. Petersburg. No trace of these proposals is found in the reforms that created the National Guard.
an in-
A similar fate might await the effort that Kudrin is expected to lead at the Center for Strategic Research. Three major reform-drafting projects were undertaken under Putin and none of them ever became a binding document. In contrast to Zolotov, Kudrin has not been given any authority, only vague promises. “[Kudrin] was invited to draft an economic program that has no official status or funding,” the political analyst Kirill Rogov wrote in a op-ed. “He was offered undefined powers on the president’s Economic Council, a strange and practically non-functioning body that Putin has not consulted even Moscow Times Times op-ed. once throughout 18 months of economic crisis.” Even the semi-independent role that Kudrin was playing between 2011 and 2016 seems to have become too fraught from the Kremlin viewpoint. Putin clearly prefers to have Kudrin in a more dependent position that would symbolize the Kremlin’s control of the reformist discourse. Putin will own whatever Kudrin’s team produces, and will be free to use it or to shelve it. What Kudrin will no longer be able to do in his new capacity is more important than what he might have done as “Strategist-in-Chief.” The appointment of Kudrin is a defensive move, rather than a policy planning initiative. Both creating a Russian gendarmerie and placing Kudrin at the drawing board of a hypothetical reform plan, are forward-looking measures. They are not meant for just one electoral season, which is a parliamentary election coming later this year. The National Guard is unlikely to be fully operational by September, and Kudrin’s main goal is post-2018 Russia (2018 is the year of a presidential election). These are measures of entrenchment and seem to be aimed at making things clearer between the ruling group and all other groups, including elites and the broader society.
Putin is addressing issues that have not become apparent yet, and is trying to anticipate problems emanating from previously loyal quarters. He has just created a super-strongman to deal with all security strongmen who might go rogue. He has just appointed a reformer-designate to make sure no one would be able to team up with Alexei Kudrin for policy projects alternative to those of the Kremlin.
Novaya Gazeta on the end of the democratic coalition From the 14 April notes:
Two of Russia’s leading opposition politicians announced Wednesday 13 April their withdrawal from election primaries being organised by the PARNAS democratic coalition. Ivan Zhdanov. Head of Law at Alexey Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) and Ilya Yashin, PARNAS political party deputy chairman, announced they would not be standing within the space of 24 hours. Their reaction comes after PARNAS leader, Mikhail Kasyanov, announced his refusal to withdraw from the list of proposed candidates, despite recent involvement in a well-publicised scandal. Kasyanov was the only politician to be included on the list of potential candidates since last December when the coalition was formed. “I think that Kasyanov's position destroys voters' trust and scraps us from the ability to be an effective opposition coalition,” Yashin said. Zhdanov's cited similar reasons to Yashin, but added that he was too busy with other political projects. “The list would have been much more respectable if its leader was elected at primaries. Openness is the core value of the opposition,” Zhdanov told The Moscow Times. He stressed that the withdrawal was his personal decision and that he hadn't heard of anybody else planning to quit their candidacy. The decision to give Kasyanov the privilege of heading the list of candidates had been controversial. The coalition was criticised for being non-democratic and for giving the Kremlin a chance to concentrate anti-opposition smears on a single figure. That chance was used when state-controlled television channel NTV aired grainy video footage of Mikhail Kasyanov and a colleague, Natalia Pelevina, in bed together. They are heard criticizing their opposition colleagues. “Given such circumstances, we would be answering idiotic questions about who slept with whom and who called someone names in bed throughout the course of the whole [State Duma election] campaign,” Yashin explained. Kasyanov told KommersantFM radio that he saw no problems with Yashin's choice. “It's his decision and he has the right for any decision and it's his opinion,” he said. Unlike Yashin, Zhdanov has said that his decision had nothing to do with the publication of the film. The lawyer believe that PARNAS still have good chances at the parliamentary elections, “because there's no alternative”. “Democratic coalition members now have to choose between bad and worse,” the political expert Alexey Makarkin told The Moscow Times. Makarkin believes the film scandal will push opposition members away from Kasyanov. He also said that voter activity at the primaries appeared to be low, and that cancelling them could be an option. At the same time, Makarkin also believes that the scandal will not result in any dramatic changes: PA RNAS will survive, and Yashin will probably enter the electoral campaign in a single-member district. “The situation in general is a plus to everyone, not a minus,” Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of Golos, an independent elections monitor, told The Moscow Times. “It is good when such things pass before the election campaign. When it starts, nothing will distract them. It seems like they [the opposition]are at a stage when they need to clarify the relationship”.]
From the 15 April notes: [ Belkovskiy on Navalniy/Yashin vs. Kasyanov http://echo.msk.ru/programs/beseda/1747696-echo/ Kasyanov says he plans on keeping the first spot on the PARNAS party list for himself, scandal or no scandal, and regardless of the results of the primaries. So Yashin has refused to take part in the party primaries. Belkovskiy: what we are seeing shows the contradictions and conflicts within the non-systemic opposition. But this won’t mean the total collapse of the democratic coalition—it’s of too much value to people like Kasyanov and Navalniy. Yashin represents Navalniy’s team, which wants to seize control of the opposition and take charge of it—and there is a reason they think that way. A certain part of PARNAS’s assets, regional structures, consider Navalniy their leader more than Kasyanov and view Navalniy as having better political prospects. The struggle for power between Kasyanov and Navalniy is certainly damaging to the non-systemic opposition and could cause a split at a time the opposition needs to consolidate…We understand that the Kremlin will likely not allow a large majority of opposition candidates candidates into the Duma and under such conditions, consolidation becomes even more important. important. There’s also a battle going on for the political-moral legacy of Boris Nemtsov. A lot of PARNAS activists still consider him as a more authoritative figure than Kasyanov. If Navalniy and Yashin can convince activists that they represent Nemtsov’s legacy better than Kasyanov, then that would be a trump card in the struggle over the party. Belkovskiy says he agrees that Navalniy has better prospects as a leader than Kasyanov, but morally he supports Kasyanov—one can’t use Kremlin provocations as a basis for infighting in the opposition…
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Novaya Gazeta Gazeta (http://www.novayagazeta.ru/politics/72887.html ) reports that Navalniy’s Progress Party and Vladimir Milov’s Democratic Choice party have announced their withdrawal from a coalition with Kasyanov’s Kasyanov’s PARNAS. The parties could not reach agreement on procedures for the primaries, on forming a party list, or on whether Kasyanov should have the #1 spot on the party electoral list. Apart from that, Kasyanov has been accused of failing to finance preparations for the elections…Electorally, this signifies collapse. Without Navalniy Navalniy and his his people, people, PARNAS PARNAS doesn’t doesn’t even even have a theoret theoretical ical chance chance of breaki breaking ng the 5% barrier barrier in in the Duma Duma election. election. But But it’s even even worse worse for Navalni Navalniy y and company company and their their unregis unregistered tered party, party, which which can’t can’t take take part in electi elections ons without without collect collecting ing signatur signatures…I es…Itt follows follows that that Navalniy Navalniy will will likely likely soon declare declare that that the electio elections ns are a sham sham and the opposi opposition tion should should boycott boycott them… them…What What this this all means means is that that Navalniy’ Navalniy’ss team is is not ready ready to take part part in politi politics. cs. It’s It’s high point point was the the Moscow Moscow mayor’s mayor’s election election in 2013…W 2013…Wee can only only hope that that Yabloko, Yabloko, which is trying to form its own coalition, does not repeat the mistakes of PARNAS…Leonid Volkov of the Progress Party says he would be surprised if PARNAS garners 1% of the vote in September…Lyubov Sobol, also of the Progress Party, says that even though her party has withdrawn from the coalition, candidates can still run for individual mandates and she will run in a Moscow district…Democratic Choice’s Milov says the main argument was about Kasyanov as #1 on the party list without having to take part in primaries. Kasyanov was named party chairman because of a desire to hold the coalition together, but he has not been fulfilling his obligations as leader—but he (Kasyanov) could still come around and change his mind about cooperation….Democratic Choice candidates can still compete for single mandate districts… Consumer confidence at a low point http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/articl http://www.themoscow times.com/business/article/russian-consumer-confi e/russian-consumer-confidence-falls-to-historic-lows/5 dence-falls-to-historic-lows/567532.html 67532.html Consumer confidence in Russia fell to 63 points in the first quarter of this year on Nielsen's Consumer Confidence Index, the lowest level since records began in 2005, the Kommersant newspaper reported Friday. In the same period last year, the index stood at 72 points, the newspaper reported. According to Nielsen, a record low number of people now have any extra money after covering basic needs and bills. At the same time, the share of Russians forced to slash their spending rose to 76 percent in the first quarter of the year. Fifty-nine percent of Russian citizens now have to abstain from entertainment expenses and 61 percent put off the purchase of new clothes. Fifty-two percent of Russians switched to cheaper food products, according to data from Nielsen. As Russia continues to experience economic recession, the real wages of Russians shrank 9.5 percent in 2015. This year, the trend continued with 3.9 percent in real wages year-on -year in the first quarter of 2016, according to the Rosstat state statistics service. “The continuing decline in real incomes means that Russians' consumer activity will remain low in the near future,” Dilyara Ibragimova, an associate professor at the Higher School of Economics' sociology department, told the newspaper. Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets said Friday that Russia has been hit by a consumer crisis. Fifty-one percent of purchased items in February were food products while the consumption of certain types of light industry has fallen by 20 percent, according to Golodets.
NOD activists attack participants at “Memorial” event http://www.themoscowtimes.com/ http://www.them oscowtimes.com/news/article/huma news/article/human-rights-event-a n-rights-event-attacked-in-mosco ttacked-in-moscow/567472 w/567472.html .html Guests at an event organized by Russia's leading human rights group Memorial have been attacked by nationalist activists, the organization's executive director told the Moscow Times Thursday. Participants at the award ceremony for high-school students were pelted with disinfectant and ammonia, said executive director Yelena Zhemkova. "Memorial was holding a very important event at Dom Kino in central Moscow, but the guests and the participants were attacked by a group of aggressive protesters who threw green disinfectant and ammonia at them as they tried to enter the building," Zhemkova said. The protests in front of the Dom Kino building were organized by the People's Liberation Front nationalist movement (NOD), local media sources reported. Roughly 20 NOD activists congregated outside Dom Kino, holding banners reading "we don't need alternative history," and shouting "fascists." Among those attacked was acclaimed Russian novelist Lyudmila Ulitskaya. The writer, who headed the jury at the competition, was sprayed in the face with green disinfectant. A number of international gu ests were also present, including the German ambassador to Russia Rüdiger von Fritsch, the Novaya Gazeta newspaper rep orted. The activists also attacked the representative from the similar school's history contest in Norway. The NOD's youth wing coordinator Maria Katasonova denied the attack on Ulitskaya in the interview with the Govorit Moskva radio station "We don't know who sprayed Ulitskaya," she said. "I only saw her turn around and she was already covered in green disinfectant. The high-school competition, "A person in the history: Russia in the XX century" is an annual event by Memorial. Students from around the country are encouraged to research local history by studying historical archives, interviewing witnesses and examining newspapers and other sources. Winning students are then invited to Moscow where they attend a number of places and events organized by Memorial. The culmination of their Moscow program is the awards ceremony. Police arriving on the scene said that the protest was a one-man picket and took no action. "Usually, even it's a real one-man protest, the police will come and puts everybody in the back of a van. This time nothing happened, even though our college had an eye injury," Zhemkova said. The executive director said that although there had been previously protests carried out during previous Memorial events, it was the first time counter-activists had been so aggressive. There was a picket had been carried out in front of the Sakharov Center where Memorial held an exhibition dedicated to the first Chechen war last month, but no one had been attacked, she said. Contact the author at [email protected]. Follow the author on Twitter at @a_bazenkova . http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/kremlin-calls-attack-on-human-rights-event-hooliganism/567 ganism/567490.html
The Kremlin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov has called an attack on a human rights event by nationalist activists “hooliganism,” the TASS news agency reported Friday. “It is hooliganism, it is a disgrace,” Peskov said. “Those, who hide behind the St. George ribbon, discredit it.” He stressed that it was “absolutely unacceptable,” Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS. On Thursday, activists from the Pro-Kremlin People's Liberation Front nationalist movement (NOD) attacked the award ceremony for high-school students who had participated in a history contest, organized by the prominent human rights group Memorial. The NOD activists gathered in front of the Dom Kino, where the Memorial ceremony was being held, shouting insults and spraying green disinfectant and ammonia at the event attendees as they tried to enter the building. Among those attacked were the competition competition participants, participants, organizers, foreign foreign and Russian guests and acclaimed Russian Russian writer Lyudmila Ulitskaya, Ulitskaya, the head of the competition's jury. According to representatives representatives of Memorial, al, when police arrived at the scene, they failed failed to take any action against the NOD activists. Later on Thursday, Moscow police announced that one of the attackers had been detained, the Interfax news agency reported. He has been charged with petty hooliganism and may face up to 15 days in prison. Comment: Recall the item we saw in the 25 April notes on “dynamic” and “hermetic” authoritarian regimes—and the Kremlin being uncomfortable with any spontaneous actions, even by groups that are pro-vlast. Lavrov on Russia’s aiming for self sufficiency
Lavrov also had some comments on NATO and Sweden, NATO and Russia… http://www.rt.com/news/34137 /news/341378-lavrov-swed 8-lavrov-sweden-nato-russia/ en-nato-russia/ NATO expansion to the East enables the alliance to deploy forces next to Russia’s borders and then accuse Moscow of “carrying out dangerous maneuvers” near the alliance’s bases, the Russian foreign minister told a Swedish media outlet. “This is a mean‐spirited attempt to turn the issue on its ears,” Russian ears,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told told Sweden’s Sweden’s Dagens Nyheter daily. “NATO military infrastructure is inching closer and closer to Russia’s borders. But when Russia takes action to ensure its security, we are told that Russia is engaging in dangerous manoeuvres near NATO borders. In fact, NATO borders are getting closer to Russia, not the opposite,” the opposite,” the Russian FM pointed out. Speaking about NATO as the EU’s principal military alliance, Lavrov said its existence is an “objective reality” and and therefore Moscow is ready for dialogue. NATO deployments of AMD bases and troops near Russian borders have already violated the basic 1997 NATO‐Russia Founding Act, the foreign minister noted. Today, NATO is different from what it used to be and Russia pays no attention to its soothing words, but instead reacts to the alliance’s military potential massed near Russia’s borders, Lavrov added. Russia is not interested in neutral Sweden entering NATO, yet “If Sweden decides to join NATO, we (Russians) won’t think that it intends to attack Russia,” Lavrov Russia,” Lavrov said. However, he also mentioned that alliance infrastructure in Sweden would definitely arouse a reaction from the Russian military. Every state is free to choose its self‐defense strategy in consideration of its national interests, and it’s better to ask the people before making this decision, according to the Russian foreign minister. “The answer [why NATO needs new member states] is simple ‐ NATO seeks to cover as much geopolitical space as possible and surround the countries that somehow disagree with NATO, such as, for example, Russia and Serbia." Self‐reliance is Russia’s strategic course now Russian foreign policy is subject to change because sanctions against Moscow have made business as usual “absolutely impossible.” Russia Russia will have to rely on its own resources first and foremost, the minister told the Dagens Nyheter daily. “From now on we have to look to ourselves. We have everything we need for that. We are a self‐sufficient country,” Sergey Sergey Lavrov said, adding that Russians are prepared to work hard to avoid having to buy anything abroad. “This is a strategic course. It has nothing to do with self‐isolation,” Lavrov said. He expressed hope that “when and if” Western Western partners opt to revert to “normal behavior,” this this would only mean additional opportunity for development and cooperation. “But in basic things we’re going to paddle our own canoe.” The EU will mature and come to an “equitable respectful dialogue without ultimatums,” Lavrov ultimatums,” Lavrov said, expressing hope that the ongoing situation in Russia‐EU relations won’t last long, because the European Union and Russia are not capable of competing in the modern world on their own. “We’re destined to live and cooperate together,” the Russian foreign minister stated. Lavrov added that Moscow will speak with other European capitals as “equal partners and defy any ideas prescribed by the EU to be taken for granted.” He went on to say that not everyone in Europe is happy with the outcome of the anti‐Russian sanctions, and it is no secret Brussels will have to discuss the issue. “Let’s hope that common sense prevails,” Lavrov Lavrov said, noting that the “European Union, Union, of course, will head in the direction that Germany wishes to go.” Sergey Lavrov reiterated that Russia would rely on generating internal resources to avoid being dependent on Europe, which is currently putting politics ahead of economic expediency.
