Putin Threatens Opposition Leaders with Murder as Election Day Nears

OPEN LETTER FROM UNITED CIVIL FRONT CHAIRMAN GARRY KASPAROV IN RESPONSE TO TODAY’S STATEMENT BY VLADIMIR PUTIN

In a statement today, Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin openly threatened the lives of the leaders of the Russian opposition. Thinly veiling his threat as an opposition plot fools no one, nor does he intend to fool anyone. Mr. Putin said, “[The opposition] are looking among well-known people for a sacrificial victim. They could, I’m sorry, knock someone off and then blame the authorities for that.” And thus he attempts to create an alibi for a murder not yet committed.

Lamentably, we who oppose Mr. Putin and who fight for democracy and liberty in Russia do not have to kill one another to make Mr. Putin look like a murderous thug! He has done that on his own in many ways. By approving the massacres of Beslan and Nord-Ost and the carpet-bombing of the Caucasus. The mysterious apartment bombings in 1999 and the assassination of Anna Politkovskaya were also on his watch. Whenever there is a political crisis, Mr. Putin turns to blood. The March 4, presidential elections provide him with another opportunity.

Considering the Putin regime’s lethal track record, such threats should be taken very seriously and must be condemned. I call on you to speak out against Mr. Putin’s provocation to assassination, and to let him know the global community is watching carefully. If there is murder or other violence against the opposition, Putin will be held accountable.

Garry Kasparov

Chairman, United Civil Front
Moscow, Russia