Vedomosti
President Medvedev sees signs of political stagnation
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has warned in his video blog that the country is showing symptoms of political stagnation similar to that experienced in the Soviet era, which is “equally damaging” to both the ruling party and the opposition.
Summarizing the political changes of the past two years, Medvedev said the reforms were aimed at making the political system fairer and more flexible as well as more open to renewal and development. It should have greater voter confidence, he said adding that the current stability is threatening to turn into stagnation.
“If the opposition has no chance at all of winning fair elections, it degrades and becomes marginalized. If the ruling party never loses a single election, it just ‘bronzes over.’ Ultimately, it too degrades like any living organism that remains static,” he said.
Medvedev cited five significant changes achieved during his presidency, including criminal penalties for election fraud, equal airtime given to all political parties by state-owned media, a greater role for parties that have a majority in regional parliaments in nominating governors, lower eligibility barriers to federal and regional-level parliaments as well as lower numbers of voter signatures required to qualify in a poll.
He admitted that the pro-Kremlin United Russia party had dominated airtime during previous elections and that opposition parties had negligible representation at every level of legislature.
“Our democracy is imperfect and we are absolutely aware of this. But we are moving forward,” the president said, calling for stronger political competition.
This is not the first time Medvedev, who has positioned himself as a modernizing force for Russia, has talked about the need to revamp Russia’s political life. His latest video blog post came ahead of a major policy address that he is to deliver to both houses of parliament on November 30.
Kommersant
EU parliament set to punish Russian officials
The European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee has suggested this year’s human rights report should call for Russian officials involved in the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky to be subject to a visa ban and freeze on their foreign assets. Committee members were practically unanimous in approving the proposal, which is sure to sail through the European Parliament. Moscow’s response is expected to be equally robust. Konstantin Kosachev, head of the State Duma’s International Affairs Committee, told Kommersant that Russia might even draw up its own black lists of undesirable Europeans.
On Tuesday, it was announced that the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights’ draft report called for visa and economic sanctions against 60 Russian officials responsible for Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky’s case. That draft was endorsed by 50 members of the Foreign Affairs Committee, none voted against, and there were only two abstentions.
As Kommersant learned, it was Heidi Hautala, head of the Subcommittee on Human Rights, who proposed the clause. She said that the solid showing in the sanctions vote proved punitive measures have the broad support of Europe’s lawmakers, participating countries and EU political parties.
She does not doubt that her initiative will be backed by all members of the EU Parliament.
Jerzy Buzek, president of the European Parliament, also stressed the importance of the Magnitsky affair. The man’s death, he said, highlighted the serious problems in Russia’s judiciary and penitentiary system and the overriding atmosphere of impunity.
This European initiative follows a similar move by the U.S. Congress, which drafted a U.S. entry ban and financial sanctions covering 60 people from the so-called Magnitsky list in late September. The U.S. draft lists people who, its compilers believe, are to blame for Magnitsky’s death.
A Hermitage Capital spokesman told Kommersant that “since there is no justice for Magnitsky in his own country, there is no alternative to sanctions.”
Meanwhile, Konstantin Kosachev described the American and European steps as “having no grounding in law.” He said the individuals listed were either only remotely related to the Magnitsky case, or completely unconnected with it, which “is an obvious breach of their rights.”
Kosachev does not deny that the “Investigation problem” is indeed real and that the Russian authorities could have been “more prompt and efficient.” But he is convinced that “this is not for European parliamentarians or U.S. congressmen to delve into. […] I am incensed by this interference by the European Parliament and consider it an act of brazen pressure on Russian law enforcement agencies,” he explained.
Asked what Moscow’s response might be should these sanctions be applied, Kosachev replied: “If the situation continues in this vein, I do not rule out that we, too, will have to go down the road of compiling some kind of black list. We also have concerns about many people visiting Russia, including certain European political leaders.”
Moskovsky Komsmolets
Russia’s lawless South
Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Investigation Committee at the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office, yesterday visited the Cossack village of Kushchyovskaya in the Krasnodar Territory. It was there that 12 people were brutally murdered on November 4. His visit proved virtually futile. The head of Krasnodar’s Main Internal Affairs Directorate, Sergei Kucheruk, is due to visit on November 25. He is unlikely to receive a warmer welcome.
One blogger gave a sense of what Bastrykin’s meeting with the locals was like: “You could count the number of local residents on the fingers of one had who’d suffered at the hands of these criminals, the hall was jam-packed with local officials.” Bastrykin’s promise that the identities of key witnesses would be kept secret largely fell on deaf ears. The odd wildcard spoke up and told the bitter truth, to the visible dismay of Governor Alexander Tkachyov and his cronies.
One village resident said Bastrykin would get much more out of people if he went knocking on doors. And what do locals have to gain from listening to Bastrykin’s promises? All but the eight gang members detained remain at large. A police spot-check on a local private security agency that provided security to a farm owned by the ringleader’s mother found no evidence implicating them in the latest atrocity. It seems the link between that company and the twelve suspects remains to be proved. But everyone in the village knows that the company consists of precisely those individuals.
Village residents are unlikely to talk until Alexander Khodych (regional division head of the Interior Ministry’s Counter-Extremism Center) is brought in. They are calling on others in the region to boycott Sergei Kucheruk’s planned visit on November 25. After all – there’s no risk of him being left to address an empty hall: Local officials will be more than willing to be bodies in the room.
Incidentally, ringleader Sergei Tsapok, who is suspected of being behind this brutal crime, is being hidden so well that not even his lawyer can find him. Rumor has it he is being held at a secret location in Pyatigorsk. He is due to be indicted no later than November 25.
Village residents and gang supporters remain at loggerheads. Wanted notices have not even been issued for two of the suspects, the villagers complain.
Just before this issue went to press, it emerged that Alexander Khodych may face criminal charges for extorting six million rubles from one local resident.
RIA Novosti is not responsible for the content of outside sources.
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