Archive for February, 2011

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Aide Says Khodorkovsky Verdict Was ‘Made to Order’

In an interview with Gazeta.ru, an aide to the judge who convicted Mikhail Khodorkovsky last Christmas claims that the judge was pressured into writing the verdict by high-level Russian officials.

Feb 14, 2011 | Continued
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Tverskoy Court Upholds Yashin’s Jail Sentence

After a week’s worth of circus-like courtroom antics, Moscow’s Tverskoy Regional Court chose to uphold Ilya Yashin’s jail sentence as legal; Yashin plans to appeal.

Feb 11, 2011 | Continued
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Russia: Freedom of Speech Online in 2010

Yezhednevny Zhurnal columnist Marianna Tishchenko discusses the various forms of pressure that the Russian authorities have used to stifle free speech on blogs and journals on the Russian Internet.

Feb 10, 2011 | Continued
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Confusing Scandal Erupts Over Officer’s Admission

The officer who admitted he falsified a police report about Ilya Yashin’s arrest has taken several bizarre turns, as he recants his testimony and was either fired or never fired at all, with the trial due to resume on Thursday.

Feb 9, 2011 | Continued
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Pyramid Country in the View of Global Stability

While the media discusses parallels and comparisons between the unrest in Egypt and the political situation in Russia, opposition leader Garry Kasparov proposes that a set of less obvious factors make Egypt’s uprising important to understanding Russia’s reality.

Feb 9, 2011 | Continued
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Officer Admits Report on Yashin’s Arrest was Falsified

The police officer who detained Ilya Yashin at December’s Strategy 31 rally has admitted that he falsified the report that was used to convict the oppositionist to a five-day jail term.

Feb 8, 2011 | Continued
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Kasparov: Putin is Mimicking Political Liberalism

Russian opposition leader Garry Kasparov argues that many of the country’s prominent public figures who purport to be part of the liberal intelligentsia have more in common with the ruling regime than they’d like to admit.

Feb 7, 2011 | Continued
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Moscow Sanctions ‘Day of Wrath’ for the First Time

Moscow city authorities have agreed to sanction the opposition’s Day of Wrath protest for the first time ever.

Feb 5, 2011 | Continued
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Putin Gives Go-Ahead to Show Kasparov, Nemtsov on TV

In a surprising break from tradition, Vladimir Putin has apparently given the go-ahead to prominent TV host Vladimir Posner to bring opposition figures such as Garry Kasparov and Boris Nemtsov on television.

Feb 5, 2011 | Continued
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Without Dispute: Medvedev As Putin’s Consigliere

Opposition leader Garry Kasparov explains how the Putin regime has transformed the stereotypical metaphor of “the Russian government is run by the mafia” into bona fide reality.

Feb 3, 2011 | Continued