Ojuland, a member of the Liberal Democrats, is in charge of presenting a report to the European Parliament in September on an EP resolution that threatens visa and asset freezes against the Russian officials involved in Magnitsky’s death if they remain unprosecuted by the Russian judicial system. Kasparov and other oppositionists at the meeting emphasized the importance of this resolution at a time when the Putin regime has accelerated the persecution of activists in Russia.

Having just been arrested, tried, and acquitted of spurious administrative charges of holding an unsanctioned rally, as well as having been falsely accused (but not even charged) with biting a police officer, Kasparov was a prime example of the kind of persecution discussed during the meeting. At the same time, Kasparov’s acquittal was almost unprecedented among cases against Russian oppositionists, and he stressed that international lawmakers needed to provide leverage to help ensure that lawbreakers, such as those responsible for Magnitsky’s death, actually pay a price.

Aside from Kasparov’s case and the high-profile case of the punk group Pussy Riot, other recent repressive moves by the Putin regime include the conviction of Other Russia activist Taisiya Osipova, who was sentenced to eight years in prison, and a search by Russia’s Investigative Committee of blogger Aleksei Navalny’s parents’ business. Additionally, a Moscow court has upheld the legality of a raid on Navalny’s own apartment back in May, despite the fact that the warrant had a different address on it than the one police actually searched and confiscated computers and other materials from. Disturbingly, all three of these events occurred on Monday. A court upheld searches of oppositionists Ilya Yashin’s and Boris Nemtsov’s apartments earlier. All these cases clearly show that Kasparov’s acquittal was an isolated event.

Another oppositionist present at the meeting with Ojuland was A Just Russia deputy Dmitry Gudkov. He discussed the possibility that Gennady Gudkov – his father and another deputy from the same party – could be kicked out of the State Duma for allegedly illegally profiting from a business. He denies any wrongdoing and insists that the charges are politically motivated because of his support for the wave of mass anti-governmental rallies over this past winter.

Ojuland agreed. “We believe that this is a political process, and not something criminal. How can European Parliamentarians help their colleague in this situation? This Thursday, for example, at the interregional meeting of European Parliament deputies with State Duma and Federation Council deputies in St. Petersburg, we can put this issue on the agenda and hear about what exactly happened and what kind of legal basis there is for the case against Gudkov,” she said.

Despite the fact that this is a domestic Russian issue, Ojuland noted, it’s possible for the European Union, and the European Parliament in particular, to collegially try to help Gudkov.

The statement is reproduced below in full:

The European Parliament has condemned shortcomings and irregularities in the preparation and conduct of Russia’s 4 March presidential elections. In a resolution passed on Thursday, it called on Vladimir Putin to tone down his rhetoric against the protestors and begin a “sincere dialogue” with them.

MEPs point to the continuing concern “about developments in Russia with regard to human rights and commonly agreed democratic principles, electoral rules and procedures”.

Irregularities in the electoral process

Parliament regrets that the choice of voters was limited in the recent elections and demands comprehensive analyses of “all irregularities with a view to strengthening democratic rules for future elections”.

It points out that international election observers from the OSCE/Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, found that the presidential elections were “deeply skewed in favour of one candidate through shortcomings in the registration process, unequal media coverage and the use of State resources in favour of one candidate”.

Call for reform

MEPs ask President Medvedev to turn words into deeds and guarantee that the necessary reforms to the political system are made. They also “expect that the new Russian President Vladimir Putin will be ready to take them forward, including the much needed simplification of rules governing the registration of political parties”.

The resolution urges all sides to take the opportunity, before the new president is inaugurated, to decide on a comprehensive reform package. It expects president-elect Putin as well as political parties represented in the State Duma to start a dialogue with the protestors and opposition on the country’s future.

Finally, Parliament encourages Russian democratic opposition groups to unite more closely around political reforms, thus affording Russian citizens a credible alternative.

An original resolution issued by the European Parliament in response to Russia’s March 4 presidential election was labeled as “too soft” by United Civil Front leader Garry Kasparov and opposition politician Mikhail Kasyanov, as well as several MEPs from the European People’s Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. The original made note of electoral violations but did not support any sort of sanctions against Moscow. With Thursday’s statement, an eventual amended version of the resolution is expected to be harsher.

According to Nemtsov, who says he only learned of the ban today, the about-face was influenced by today’s resolution by the European Parliament criticizing Russian authorities both for refusing to officially register his political party and for introducing the travel ban.

“Seven hundred deputies – every single faction and party in the European Parliament – demanded the immediate annulment of the ban on my ability to travel outside of the country,” Nemtsov said in response to the announcement. “Naturally, Putin’s corrupt entourage got scared that it would be banned from Europe in return.”

The opposition leader said that decisions made by European institutions have a serious influence on the Russian government and that “this resource has to be used.”

“Here [in Europe – ed.] they have children, bank accounts, real estate, yachts that they ride on,” Nemtsov said of Russian civil servants. “They need to be brought to their senses precisely through Europe; they don’t understand anything else. As a matter of fact, this was a very optimistic incident; this needs to be kept up.” He added that other parts of the European Parliament’s resolution could be carried out in Russia under due pressure from Europe.

The Federal Bailiff Service, which first denied the travel ban altogether, said that an enquiry had concluded that the ban had been “premature” and would now be lifted.

According to Kasparov.ru, the ban was initiated by businessman Gennady Timchenko, who accused the two politicians of failing to fulfill a judicial order to change two remarks in their opposition report “Putin. Results. 10 Years” that he says damaged his reputation.

The ruling ordered Nemtsov and Milov to publically retract their assertion that Timchenko used his friendship with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to become a billionaire. While a retraction was published in the newspaper Kommersant, “Mr. Timchenko was unhappy that the font was too small in that retraction, so he demanded that we should be kept inside the country for six months,” Nemtsov explained to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

While providing an unexpected but immediate benefit to the two oppositionists, the European Parliament’s resolution was first of all dedicated to a scathing criticism of Russia’s recent refusal to register their new political party, Parnas, thus preventing its representatives from participating in upcoming elections for the State Duma and presidency.

Parnas’s predicament united virtually every political faction in the European Union, with the resolution garnering support from liberals, socialists, conservatives and members of the Green Party.

The document calls on Russian authorities to lessen the requirements for new parties to register and to guarantee equal conditions for all parties and candidates during upcoming electoral campaigns, including access to television broadcast media.

As a general rule, many oppositionists – including Boris Nemtsov, Garry Kasparov, Eduard Limonov and others – are not allowed to be shown on Russia’s state-controlled television.

Commenting on the resolution, Estonian Deputy Kristiina Ojuland said that “Putin has until September to come to his senses, although it’s already clear how the rails to the future State Duma have been laid.”

On April 10, a conference on the international monitoring of parliamentary and presidential elections in 2011-2012 was held in Moscow. Russian human rights advocates called for fundamental reform of legislation governing elections, parties and public associations.

Noting that Russia no longer has direct elections for regional governors and arguing that parliamentary and presidential elections “have turned into an empty ritual,” Moscow Helsinki Group head Lyudmila Alexeyeva said that it was only possible to change the situation through protests and demonstrations. Head of the electoral watchdog Golos, Liliya Shibanova, spoke of “a multilayered system of filtration during and falsification of elections” and called for “strict monitoring and an appeal to international organizations.” And leader of the Interregional Association of Voters, Andrei Buzin, added that the new makeup of the Central Electoral Committee (TsIK), headed by Vladimir Churov – famous for what has been called his “unsurpassed” loyalty to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin – “provides the basis to assume that the coming elections will be held like past ones.”

The activists said the TsIK should only “point out violations committed by candidates” and that the courts should be responsible for denying parties registration or taking them off the ballot, not them.

The minimum number of members needed to form a party should be reduced to 5,000 from the current 45 thousand, they added.

Members of the conference called on the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the European Parliament to use their influence to “assist with the registration of parties,” to do away with censorship of the mass media and to stop “the persecution of the opposition” in Russia.

European Parliament deputies Kristiina Ojuland and Heidi Hautala said the parliament already has a group doing preliminary monitoring of upcoming Russian elections that includes members of all of the country’s political forces.

“We should have the same policies toward Russia as we do towards Belarus,” Hautala said, noting that the European Union has already placed sanctions on Belarusian civil servants.

Russian opposition politicians present at the meeting spoke about the persecution of the opposition. Other Russia party leader Eduard Limonov said the recently created People’s Freedom Party was “doomed to be denied registration” and that there was no point in directly monitoring elections if they “are already being falsified right now,” when the authorities have already denied registration to seven other opposition parties.

One of the leaders of the People’s Freedom Party, Boris Nemtsov, said the Russian authorities are not preparing for elections, but for “a special operation to preserve money and power under the slogan ‘we’re going to fight to the end.'”

On February 17, the European Parliament issued a critical resolution on Russia’s human rights situation. Deputies expressed concern over the conviction in the second criminal case against oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner, Platon Lebedev, and called upon the Russian authorities to do everything possible to institute a fair and transparent judicial system in the country as previously promised by the Russian president.

In a resolution issued on February 17, European deputies expressed concern over the guilty sentence in the second case against former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner, Platon Lebedev, and called upon the Russian government to do everything necessary to establish a judicial system that corresponds with the promises of Russia’s president to create just and transparent courts. The resolution referred to opposition activists, including Solidarity co-leader Boris Nemtsov, who were sentenced to jail after participating in a sanctioned rally in Moscow.

“Several judicial processes and lawsuits of the past several years have cast doubt upon the independence and impartiality of judicial institutions in the Russian Federation,” reads the document.

The deputies also said Russia must respect human rights and the supremacy of law in the North Caucasus.

Russia was called upon to solve the murders of numerous Russian journalists and human rights activists and bring their perpetrators to justice. The deputies cited such victims as Natalya Estemirova, Andrei Kulagin, Zamera Sadulaeva, Alik Dzhabrailov, Maksharip Aushev, Stanislav Markelov, Anastasia Baburova and Anna Politkovskaya. The resolution also noted the situation with the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in a Moscow pretrial detention facility.

“It’s a very good, very concrete resolution that shows the European Parliament knows what’s happening in Russia.” Moscow Helsinki Group leader Lyudmila Alexeyeva told Kasparov.ru. “It’s impossible to enumerate all of our problems, but the ones that are included in the resolution are significant.”

According to Yevgeny Ikhlov of the Movement for Human Rights, the resolution shows that Western Europe sees Russia exactly the same way Russia’s liberal opposition does. “This was clear before, thanks to diplomatic correspondence published on Wikileaks, but now they’ve said it officially,” he said.

In contrast to previous resolutions, this one is complex and is dedicated to the complete collapse of the “Medvedev thaw,” said Ikhlov. “Western Europe feels that, after three years of Dmitri Medvedev’s rule, the country still has no rights, is mafia-like, and the exact same persecution of innocent and political opponents that was happening under Putinism is still going on. There hasn’t been any thaw, all of it has been talk. It’s not, of course, Belarus, but it’s next on the list. In terms of a lack of democracy, Russia takes second place for Europe,” he concluded.

Ella Kesaeva, leader of the victim advocacy movement Voice of Beslan, said that the memorial began Wednesday morning at 9:15 am – the moment when Chechen and Ingush militants seized the school, demanding an end to the Second Chechen War.

“There are a lot of people,” said Kesaeva of the memorial. According to Interfax, about 3000 people came to honor the dead, including relatives of the children and teachers killed and the leadership of the republic, headed by President Taymuraz Mamsurov.

Portraits of the victims, including special forces operatives who were killed in the raid that ended the three-day siege, were hung on the walls of the school’s sports arena. Many visitors laid flowers and lit candles in their memory.

The memorial is planned to last until September 3, when a delegation is expected to come from the European Parliament.

A statement published Wednesday from Voice of Beslan issued the latest of many demands for an objective investigation of how the Russian authorities dealt with the hostage crisis. On the third day of the siege, federal security forces controversially used tanks and flamethrowers to raid the school. In the end, at least 334 of the more than 1100 hostages died in the operation, among them 186 children. “We feel that the use of heavy machinery during the raid was a war crime,” said Kesaeva.

The organization believes that the way in which the Russian authorities dealt with the siege violated the articles of the European Convention on Human Rights that guarantees the right to life and freedom from torture.

In an open letter to Russian President Dmitri Medvedev published on the organization’s website on Wednesday, parents of children killed in the raid asked the head of state to remember “the wounds of the Beslan tragedy.” For more than two years, they said, the president has ignored parents’ requests to hold an objective investigation, forcing them to look to other avenues for help.

“For six years, the official agencies have demonstrated their unwillingness to hold an objective investigation,” reads the letter, “so we are forced to appeal to competent international associations to carry out an objective investigation.”

The Beslan hostage crisis became the basis for a variety of measures to consolidate power within the Russian federal government. Under President Vladimir Putin, law enforcement agencies were given a broader range of authority, and the direct election of the heads of federal regions was abolished; these leaders are now nominated by the president and voted on by local legislatures. Critics argue that the government took advantage of the tragedy to pull through these and other similar measures, which they say are detrimental for democracy in the country.

The demonstration would be the ninth iteration of the Strategy 31 rallies, named for the 31st article of the Russian constitution that guarantees freedom of assembly. The rallies have been held, despite lacking official sanction, for the past year on the 31st of each month with that date in Moscow and other cities across Russia.

“I received a call from the mayor’s office and was told that there is going to be some kind of big cultural event on Triumfalnaya Square on that day.” said Alexeyeva. “We’re being turned down for the ninth time,” All previous rallies have been turned down for similar reasons, but Strategy 31 organizers insist that the city is working to intentionally deny them access to Moscow’s Triumfalnaya Square, since its central location gives the rallies relatively high visibility.

Alexeyeva was adamant that rally organizers maintain their constitutional right to hold the rally on the square and would not move it to a different location, as the city has repeatedly proposed. Since these alternative sites would render the rallies virtually invisible to the general population and confuse people who wanted to take part as to where they were going to be held, Strategy 31 organizers have continued to insist that the event be held on Triumfalnaya Square.

“We’ll come to Triumfalnaya Square on May 31 all the same,” said Alexeyeva. “But it won’t be a rally. We’ll come with signs with the number ’31’ in defense of the 31st article of the constitution,” most likely meaning that the oppositionists don’t intend to carry political insignia to the square. In that case, the event would not constitute an actual rally that would require government sanction to be held legally.

Alexeyeva added, however, that she still expects the police and OMON riot forces to beat and detain event participants as they have during all previously Strategy 31 rallies. The 82-year-old Alexeyeva herself was detained during last December’s New Years Eve rally, prompting an outcry from rights groups and federal representatives in Europe and the United States. “They’ll probably start seizing us again,” she said on Wednesday. “I want to discuss the developing situation with the leadership of the Moscow City Police.”

Strategy 31 co-organizer and opposition leader Eduard Limonov added that Moscow city authorities are currently trying to organize a meeting with rally organizers. He said that he does not believe, however, that the city is prepared to make any concessions and is simply trying to save face. Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov has expressed disdain for the Strategy 31 movement and has given conflicting statements on why his government continually rejects their applications to hold rallies on Triumfalnaya Square.

Saving face may very well be on the minds of the city administration this time around. International pressure has been mounting against both federal and city authorities in Russia and Moscow ever since Alexeyeva’s arrest made global news out of the brutal treatment of opposition protesters by the police. And for the May 31 event, Strategy 31 organizers have invited a delegation from the European Parliament and the editors-in-chief from more than a dozen large Russian media outlets to observe the proceedings.

News also broke on Wednesday that the St. Petersburg authorities have similarly refused to sanction a Strategy 31 protest in that city on May 31, also on the basis that another event had already been planned for the oppositionist’s chosen site. Organizers of the rally, which included the St. Petersburg Human Rights Council, the Petersburg branch of the United Civil Front, the liberal opposition party Yabloko, the opposition movement Solidarity, and a number of youth democratic advocacy groups, also said that they intend to hold the rally anyway.