An Alternative Agenda
October 24, 2012
Yezhednevny Zhurnal

Garry Kasparov
Leader, United Civil Front
Total votes: 33,849
Rank: 3rd

We managed to hold the election, despite extremely unfavorable external conditions. The Democracy-2 system, which Yekaterinburg programmers, led by Leonid Volkov, released this past year, proved its efficacy. There were some conflicts, of course, but on the whole the election was free and fair, because all of the decisions by the Central Electoral Committee were completely open. This stands in direct contrast to [Federal Central Electoral Commission Chairman Vladimir] Churov’s elections – it’s totally clear how and why various decisions were made. Of course, someone might want to challenge them if they don’t like them, but the entire procedure was fully transparent.

The fact that hundreds of thousands of Russian citizens went through the verification process in the online voting system (which involves agreeing to enter their passport and phone numbers) shows a growth of protest sentiment and of people’s desire to participate more actively in shaping the protest agenda. You could say that the result of this campaign, albeit a short (but still striking) one, is the emergence of a totally legitimate opposition body. The number of people who took part in this transparent process created a body that has legitimacy to speak in the name of the entire protest movement.

The obvious difficulty that the Opposition Council is going to face is that it consists of very different people with different ideologies, and that it will have, let’s say, many political newcomers. I, along with several of my colleagues – Andrei Illarionov, Andrei Piontkovsky, Boris Nemtsov, and especially the others who were also in the Other Russia movement and the National Assembly – have experience in this type of cooperation. But such people are now a minority in the Coordination Council – that’s an objective fact. It’s very important that the Council is able to overcome these dangerous problems and form a constructive agenda.

From my point of view, the most important task, besides writing regulations and organizing normal functioning for the Coordination Council, is to build up our electoral base – not just the people who vote, but and who participate in the entire process; people who want to follow the Council’s work continuously, to make remarks and proposals. They should have that opportunity. This is what we’d like to build and call the Free Russia Forum. All of these people are registered, and they should be as full participants of this process as the members of the Coordination Council are. In my opinion, the Council should hold referendums on important issues as often as possible. Tens of thousands of people, if they want, should have the opportunity to vote on some type of key issue. In the same vein, the next issue is expanding the Council beyond the Garden Ring. Of course, we do already have quite a wide regional base – only 35% of those who voted in the Council election were Muscovites, just more than a third. But it’s very important that activeness increases, so that people in the regions, where there are many potential voters, create their own coordination councils, meaning that they build up a local infrastructure.

Yevgenia Chirikova
Leader, Movement in Defense of the Khimki Forest
Votes: 32,221
Rank: 7th

It seems to me that the most important thing right now is to establish a system to provide people with information. In Khimki, I was confronted with the fact that the propaganda that currently flows from Channel One, NTV, and local television is effective, and has an absolutely corrosive effect on people. Our task is to make it so that they know the truth. We absolutely need to support local media in places where we plan to participate in municipal elections.

It seems to me that, because [the local media] had been destroyed in Khimki, we had low turnout, people were disappointed in everything and didn’t believe that it’d be possible to change anything. We need our own media system, since we need to be able to have an impact on people. In places where you can impact people, everything else is possible: defending human rights, defending nature, defending the rights of prisoners. If the citizens trust us, if we can get through to their hearts and minds, then we won’t have a problem calling them, for example, to come to a picket in defense of prisoners or a rally in defense of a forest.

The biggest difficulty of our time is to remain free. But whether or not it’ll be possible to negotiate is going to depend on external factors – the harder they push, they easier it’ll be to negotiate. The way things are going now, we will have a wonderful time negotiating!

As hundreds of people rallied in Moscow in support of elections for a united council for Russia’s non-systemic opposition, electronic voting for the council was extended for another day due to powerful hacker attacks. In light of the difficulties that have been faced by the council-to-be thus far, opposition leader and Coordination Council candidate Garry Kasparov explains in this op-ed how the government’s attempts to brush off any responsibility are verifiably false.

Center of Crystallization
By Garry Kasparov
October 20, 2012
Kasparov.ru

The Orwellian semantics of the Ministry of Truth have already become an established element of our Kafkaesque reality. In this system, as everybody knows, peace means war. And when Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, responds to a question about elections to the opposition’s Coordination Council by saying: “To be honest, we aren’t paying much attention to this, since we are on a very tight schedule,” then this is a direct confirmation that the president is personally in control of a special operation to disrupt the opposition elections. The government, as opposed to the smug, shiny political scientists that it feeds, is perfectly aware of the danger of the crystallization of a center for the non-systemic opposition at a time when the System itself is in a state of heightened instability.

It was on October 20-21, 1990 that the Democratic Russia party held its founding congress, and the Chekists who built the new power vertical under Putin’s leadership remember well what the Soviet Communist Party’s inability to prevent the creation of active, independent, parallel political structures led to. The Kremlin also remembers that 150 thousand registered voters is actually quite a lot, because it refers to the mobilization of the part of society that’s politically active. The number of Russian citizens who have publicly expressed their desire to vote in the elections for Coordination Council clearly surpasses the total number of real members of all the official registered parties, including United Russia. The idea of the two million person army of United Russia and the All-Russia People’s Front, with their hundreds and thousands of Nashisti and other Putinjugend, exists only on paper, which the Putin regime de-facto admitted by ordering Sergei Mavrodi to use his neat columns of MMM members for spoiler voting.

Incidentally, by their logic, this actually makes sense. The power vertical, which has become the basic mode of operation for these crooks and thieves, can only rely on a pyramid scheme. Authoritarian regimes that only place their bets on the inertial development of social processes inevitably resort to the clumsiest possible methods of supporting the status quo. Lacking any meaningful support among active Russian citizens, the Kremlin is carrying out its traditional mobilization of power and propaganda resources. Barefaced “black humor” on state television, assaults by police and the judiciary on opposition activists, protected FSB hackers – this is the arsenal that this agonized regime is trying to use to delay its inevitable collapse.

The unprecedented efforts by Putin’s henchmen to disrupt the elections to the Russian opposition’s Coordination Council are the best possible confirmation that the idea is a good one. A legitimate body for the non-systemic opposition formed according to the results of free and fair voting can and must become the catalyst for the creation of a new political system in Russia.

Last March, Russian state-controlled television channel NTV aired an anti-oppositionist hack program called “Anatomy of a Protest.” The show came in the wake of the largest anti-governmental demonstrations Russia had seen since the fall of the Soviet Union, and accused those demonstrators, without any evidence, of getting paid for their efforts. Although the accusations were highly absurd, had no basis in reality (renowned TV host Vladimir Posner said it initially looked like a “spoof”), and led to numerous NTV journalists resigning in protest, the majority of Russian citizens get their news from television, so a negative impact on the image of the opposition was inevitable.

Now, NTV has released a follow-up program entitled “Anatomy of a Protest 2.” The program, which aired last Thursday, accuses Left Front leader Sergei Udaltsov of conspiring with Georgia to obtain foreign funding to aid with anti-Putin protests in Russia. While Udaltsov denies the conspiracy, federal investigators are taking the matter seriously to a surreal extent. The film also alleges that leading Russian oppositionist Garry Kasparov holds US citizenship – a charge that has been debunked so many times that it has almost become cliché. In his latest op-ed, Kasparov puts the accusation against him in larger context of the Russian leadership’s insulated conspiratorial mindset.

Forced Americanization: Made in NTV
By Garry Kasparov
October 7, 2012
Kasparov.ru

In a country where parliament has long since ceased to be a place for discussion, and the participation of the top leadership in pre-electoral debates is seen as damaging sovereign democracy, it’s inevitable that television would turn into a mouthpiece for radical state propaganda. Since losing one’s reputation among “official” journalists has long since ceased to be a relevant factor, and the libel law is well known to be used only against people who criticize the current government, federal television has armed itself, with no misgivings, against the opposition with Putin’s favorite tool, “wasting [them] down the toilet.”

“The Anatomy of a Protest 2,” yet another of NTV’s masterpieces of incrimination, fully corresponds with the Kremlin’s conception of opposition leaders as foreign agents conspiring evilly against their homeland. And, of course, in their anxiousness to expose this insidious plot, generously funded by foreign security services, they couldn’t help but revisit the hackneyed myth of “American citizen Kasparov.” This time, the source isn’t an anonymous Nashi leaflet, but solid, trustworthy Public Chamber member Georgy Fedorov, head of the social and political research center Aspekt (“Garry Kasparov is a man who can go into any US governmental office whenever he wants, because he’s a US citizen.” 34 minutes into the film). In the biography of this zealous public guardian of the foundations of the state, there’s a mention of a thank-you letter from the Central Electoral Commission, which in today’s Russia means that the recipient has an exceptional ability to disseminate information that has nothing to do with actual reality.

Surely, the appropriate Russian agencies haven’t lost so much of their professionalism that they aren’t in a state to verify such elemental pieces of the biography of a Russian citizen. So it’s logical to assume that the Kremlin’s propaganda machine acts according to the well-known principle that “the dregs will remain.” So, for instance, the information about how Kasparov asked NATO to bomb Russia that appeared on Infox.ru was immediately replicated by all other mass media. But, naturally, the redaction that Infox.ru was forced to publish after my lawsuit did not enjoy such publicity.

The history of my “Americanization” has old roots. Back in 1975, when my teacher Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik tried to put together a small stipend for me, a number of chess managers felt it was pointless to invest in my training because “Kasparov will run abroad sooner or later.” High-level party leaders used this same argument during my confrontation with Anatoly Karpov, which justified his need for administrative support. I also recall that, at the beginning of the 2000s, a journalist writing about chess asked if I planned to leave Russia. When I said no, he looked at me strangely and said heatedly: “If I had a hundred thousand dollars, there’s no way I’d stay here.”

This honest admission is the most accurate possible reflection of the mentality of today’s so-called Russian elite, which, indeed, attempts to hide its own complete integration with the Western world with cheap patriotic rhetoric. The idea that anyone with the means to get an American passport (or at least a green card) wouldn’t jump at the chance simply doesn’t occur to them. And, like always, the only explanation for events that don’t correspond with their primitive views of the surrounding world is that it is a mythical conspiracy theory.

Of course, such conspiracy theories won’t prevent a libel suit, although anything’s possible in Putin’s courts. My previous lawsuit against Nashi, in 2008, was turned down because the court didn’t find sufficient basis to confirm the fact that plaintiff Garry Kimovich Kasparov was the same “American citizen Kasparov” mentioned in the Nashi leaflet.

The film “Anatomy of a Protest 2” won’t leave the judges with that same room for doubt. So it’ll be interesting to see what explanations citizen G. V. Fedorov and his co-defendants from NTV bring with them to court.

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.

Click here for a PDF of Kasparov’s full written statement, posted below:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MOSCOW – AUGUST 24, 2012

• Garry Kasparov was acquitted on charge of participating in an illegal rally outside of Pussy Riot courthouse on August 17, 2012. This is one of the first-ever such acquittals in the Putin era.

• Kasparov still faces the accusation of assaulting a police officer. No charges have been filed and overwhelming evidence has been published contradicting officer’s allegation.

• Kasparov will pursue charges for illegal arrest and assault by the police and for libel against the officer who accuses Kasparov of biting him on the 17th.

After nine hours in a Moscow courtroom, Garry Kasparov was acquitted of the charge he violated the law against illegal protests. Hours of witness testimony and video of Kasparov’s arrest refuted the official police reports that Kasparov was chanting slogans or resisting arrest. Kasparov’s attorney presented dozens of media reports from the day of the arrest that contradicted the official police timeline of Kasparov’s arrest and detention.

STATEMENT BY GARRY KASPAROV

First I want to say that this acquittal is not the end of the saga. While waiting for the judge’s decision, I again visited the investigator who is in charge of the assault accusation against me and my own charges of illegal arrest and assault against the police and of libel against officer Ratnikov. The authorities must decide whether to pursue the cases and whether or not to combine these cases into one. They are examining the evidence, much of which was accepted in my trial today.

I will press forward with the criminal charges against the police. My acquital can only strengthen my defense in the criminal case and my complaints. A court has decided that they arrested and asasulted an innocent man. This is no small event. It is perhaps the first time ever in Putin’s Russia that someone has been acquitted of these charges in this way. (Ironically, I was one of the first convicted under the strong new anti-protest laws, when I was jailed in 2007.) Today the judge made it clear that the police testimony was not to be trusted. She also allowed our video evidence and witnesses for the defense to an unprecedented degree.

It remains to be seen if this admirable decision was of her own conscience or if it indicates something within the institution. If it was soley the judge’s decision, we will find out soon if the district attorney’s office appeals the verdict. They have ten days to do so. Or is it possible that the authorities decided they had received enough negative publicity for one week and are attempting to show the world that Russian justice actually exists. If this is the case, it will take much more than one trial of a well-known individual with the world watching. The real test will be the many similar cases to come. We must keep watching and fighting, to keep the pressure on!

This is why I feel obliged to press criminal charges over my abuse at the hands of the police. Friends and colleagues across Russia have been convicted by false testimony just like that I faced today in court. Having this acquittal in my hands means I must push forward. Only success in punishing the officers responsible can help protect others from injustice. I was fortunate to be able to bring resources to bear and to have global support in my cause. My family and I are so grateful. I am deeply indebted to the many journalists who came forward on their own to provide videos, photos, and their personal testimony. In a country where journalists are subjected to heavy pressure, and often violence, this was a significant risk.

This result demonstrates the power of solidarity. This means more than donating money and your voice. It is a shared sentiment that freedom matters everywhere, for every person, not only in your own country. It is essential to stay involved. The more people pay attention and bring pressure from the grassroots, the more cases will end the way mine did and the fewer will result like that of Pussy Riot. Find a way to make a difference!

Garry Kasparov

LINKS

• Video and English transcript of Kasparov speaking to reporters outside of the court after his acquittal. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tN0735Imx6k

• Kasparov’s Facebook page, for regular updates. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Garry-Kasparov/243791258306

• Donate to the Foundation for Democracy in Russia, a non-profit founded by Kasparov to provide legal defense and other aid to the anti-Putin movement in Russia. http://www.theotherrussia.org/support-the-other-russia/

Video of his speech after exiting the courthouse and a translation are below. Updates are being posted at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Garry‐Kasparov/243791258306 and https://twitter.com/Kasparov63.

I have a strange sensation, it’s hard to even find words for it, because my lawyers, friends and I didn’t expect anything besides another typical guilty verdict, and when, over the course of so many years, all opposition activists have been inevitably convicted in courts like this, it’s hard to imagine that the day would come when the courts could provide us with legitimate consideration. Actually, today was very unusual, because from the very beginning, as opposed to many other previous similar cases, the judge agreed to allow motions by the defense. Moreover, all of the defense’s motions were accepted, including those that called witnesses to the stand and those that entered video and photographic material as evidence. Of course, this was a very, let’s say, unusual sign, but we didn’t understand that it would influence the final verdict so much.

I would like to express my particular gratitude to the journalists who managed to collect so many materials, especially photo and video ones, which were used in the case today and which absolutely had an influence both on the judge and, perhaps, on the people who have influence on the judge. All the same, it was just too obvious. I’d like to thank the journalists who came and appeared as witnesses here today, because it was clear that these people, who were completely different and of completely different nationalities, all said the exact same thing. It seems to me that this left an impression, and it also became obvious that, as opposed to many similar situations, there was no actual case of any sort of event occurring. And the extremely confused testimonies of the two police officers who detained me, which contradicted each other, they of course convinced the judge that their version of events held no credibility.

The result was a full acquittal, and this is a very important step forward. I don’t intend to stop here; I want to have charges brought against the officers who illegally detained me. We’ve already filed the necessary paperwork with the investigative branch for the Khamovniki region. And I hope that this verdict will give us additional evidence so that that my detention and beating will be given due consideration by investigators.

As far as the next case is concerned, the one by Officer Ratnikov about this absurd attack – again, I hope that this today’s session will allow us to draw upon video and photo materials. We have very unique materials, basically an entire archive that allows us to give practically a second-by-second account of everything that happened outside of the Khamovnichesky Court. Again, my thanks to the journalists who managed to film all of this, to dig it all up from their electronic devices and even now continue to come forward with different photos and video clips. And I hope that the investigators will act just as objectively as this judge did today, and that I’ll be so lucky as to have Officer Ratnikov be convicted of libel.

It’s hard for me to say what sort of consequences today’s verdict is going to have for the Russian opposition on the whole. I even feel slightly guilty, because until now all of these verdicts have been guilty ones, and so many of my friends are still experiencing this pressure. We know that the widespread investigation of the May 6th events on Bolotnaya Square is still ongoing. But nevertheless, this is a very important step forward, and I’m going to do everything in my power to help those who need defense in these matters, because not everyone is so lucky to have their detentions and the police violence they experienced be covered so fully by the press.

Translation by theotherrussia.org.

• The reports also say that Kasparov was yelling slogans such as “Russia without Putin” and that they warned him to stop before he was arrested, as they are legally required to do – this is patently false, as is clear from video footage of the arrest.

• We have also included a timeline of time-stamped media reports, all of which were published before the police reports claim the arrest occurred.

Garry Kasparov’s statement to police, indicating the real time of his arrest – 3:15 pm.

You can see “15:15,” the real arrest time, written towards the bottom. Note that Kasparov’s statement was dictated to an officer at the moment while the officers’ statements are pre-prepared, typed and photocopied.

Statement by Police Captain Pavel Domashev showing false 4:30 pm arrest time.

STATEMENT

City of Moscow, August 17, 2012
Time: 5:30 pm

Police Precinct of the Russian Internal Ministry for the Khamovniki Region, City of Moscow, Police Captain D.G. Avraamov received a statement from citizen:

1. Name: Pavel Sergeevich Domashev
2. Date of birth: *****
3. Place of birth: ******
4. Address: *******
5. Nationality and citizenship: *****
6. Passport or other document: *******
Education: ******
7. Place of work and rank, telephone number: ********** Police Captain, Commander of the 2nd Operational Regiment of the Main Branch of the Russian Internal Ministry for the City of Moscow, tel. *******

Article 51 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation has been explained to me and is understood

(signature)

Based on the questions that have been asked of me, I can say the following:

On August 17, 2012, at 8:00 am, I began work guarding public order and safety at the following address: 7th Rostovsky Pereulok, Building 11, Moscow, and also at that time, the neighboring territory of the Khamovnichesky Regional Court was cordoned off in connection with the verdict reading for the group Pussy Riot, and citizens were repeatedly explained over a loudspeaker what detours there were for the surrounding area. At about 11:00 am, 200 citizens began to gather near the Khamovnichesky Regional Court of the City of Moscow. Close to 4:30 pm, one citizen from the group of citizens yelled slogans “Freedom to Pussy Riot.” “Down with the police state!” “Russia without Putin” The citizen did not react to the repeated, lawful demands of police officers over the loudspeaker to stop the unlawful actions. In connection with which I, together with Officer M.I. Zavrazhnov, made the decision to detain the citizen and place him in holding at a branch of the Internal Ministry of Russia for the Khamovniki region of the city of Moscow, who turned out to be Garry Kimovich Kasparov, born ******, registered at the following address: ****** for further investigation.

Statement by Police Captain Mikhail Zavrazhnov showing false 4:30 pm arrest time. Note that his statement is literally identical to his co-captain’s, hence no extra translation is provided:

Photographs showing Kasparov’s arrest and the time:

TIMELINE OF ARREST THROUGH MEDIA REPORTS

Photo by Olaf Koens of Kasparov in police van posted to Twitter – 15:27 17 Aug 2012
https://twitter.com/obk/status/236423940975779840/photo/1

Interfax.ru Live Update Page – 15:27 17 Aug 2012
“15:27 – У суда задержан Гарри Каспаров” (“Garry Kasparov has been arrested at the courthouse)
http://www.interfax.ru/society/txt.asp?id=260980&sw=%CA%E0%F1%EF%E0%F0%EE%E2&bd=24&bm=7&by=2012&ed=24&em=8&ey=2012&secid=0&mp=2&p=1

AFP Live Report Page – 15:43 17 Aug 2012
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/afp/pussy-riot-verdict-live-report/538957

Russia Today Live Page (English) – 15:53 17 Aug 2012
http://rt.com/news/pussy-riot-verdict-updates-907/

Given the disturbing events of the past few days, many people have been asking what they can do to help. Garry Kasparov’s non-profit organization, the Foundation for Democracy in Russia, supports legal defense for opposition activists. You can donate to the foundation by clicking here.

Moscow, Russia – August 23, 2012

STATEMENT BY GARRY KASPAROV

Monday, August 21, I visited the district office of the Investigative Committee of Russia to submit my complaints. The first for my illegal arrest and physical assault by the police. The second, against officer
Dennis Ratnikov for his libelous accusation of assault against me. Ironically, libel was recently upgraded to a criminal charge in Russia in order to persecute citizens who were critical of the leadership! I answered the investigator’s questions:

Did you assault the police officers? No. Did you offer resistance? I would not call it that, but I was being abducted unlawfully and did not want to be put on the bus. Did you bite the officer? Absolutely not. Even had I wanted to, there was no opportunity. Did you insult any officers with profane language? I admit that while being assaulted and in physical pain I used strong language in my emotional state.

The ICR (similar to the American FBI; they answer to the office of the President) will now decide whether or not to combine my two complaints into one. It was clear they were not happy about having to deal with this counterattack. But it was the security forces who created this absurd situation, and its absurdity does not mean it is not dangerous so I must respond seriously.

The latest evidence against the accusation that I bit officer Ratnikov on the hand is a chronological series of photographs by Artyom Geodakian clearly showing a small cut on his left hand before he participated in beating me. [Links below.] I do not know how he acquired this cut, but that is not my concern. I am lucky so many members of the media were there and indebted that many of them have lent their expertise to refuting the charges against me. Among them, The New Times, Grani, The Term, Novaya Gazeta, and the BBC. Several correspondents, including that of Radio Liberty, signed the witness statement in my defense.

This is all part of the remarkable support I have received here in Russia and abroad from politicians, actors, business leaders, and the global chess community. People I met only once at a long‐ago conference have gotten in touch. My family and I are truly grateful. I am lucky enough to have a famous name and the resources for medical care and legal defense. Many in Russia are not so lucky, and if you see how I am treated with the whole world watching you can imagine what happens to activists here with no one watching and with no one to defend them. Such brutality by the police and the courts is a routine for them.

In the coming months, dozens of activists will be put on trial for protesting and other acts of defiance against the Putin regime. They need legal defense, medical aid, and their families often need assistance. You can help! We have established a non‐profit foundation to receive donations for this purpose, called the Foundation for Democracy in Russia. These donations will go to helping those unjustly persecuted and their families. In the last few days we have received donations from people in more than a dozen countries, a wonderful show of solidarity. [Links below.]

Along with aiding these courageous individuals directly, each donation throws sand in the gears of the Putin repression machine. You see, in order to give the appearance of a legitimate government, the Kremlin allows trials and appeals and is signatory to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Putin relies on the inability of ordinary Russians to hire attorneys and defend themselves. The courts are Kremlin puppets, but they must go through the motions of justice to avoid even greater global condemnation and the risk that Western leaders will finally call for Russia’s expulsion from international covenants. This would cost Putin and his cronies business deals and trade agreements – in other words it would hit them where it hurts, their wallets! Putin’s oligarchs will be forced to realize it is against their best interests to continue persecuting innocent people for speaking their minds.

People power does not let Western leaders off the hook. If they take the ideals of freedom and justice seriously, they must pass legislation to sanction Putin and his officials for punishing innocents and destroying the rule of law in Russia. In the US, the Magnitsky Act in the Senate (S.1039) would show these thugs that they will be held accountable for their actions. No more oppression at home in Russia while traveling freely abroad and keeping their loot in European and American banks. Similar legislation exists in the European Union. You have a voice, so let your representatives know how you feel!

Garry Kasparov

LINKS

• Chronological photo sequence showing officer Ratnikov’s hand injury before he participated in the assault on Mr. Kasparov.

1. Original: http://www.argumenti.ru/print/society/2012/08/197586
2. English: http://www.theotherrussia.org/2012/08/22/russian‐newspapersphotographs‐
   prove‐kasparovs‐innocence/

• How you can help. Links to contact your representatives or donate to the Foundation for Democracy in Russia.

1. http://www.theotherrussia.org/2012/08/20/pussy‐riot‐verdict‐kasparov‐arresthow‐you‐can‐help/
2. http://www.theotherrussia.org/support‐the‐other‐russia/

• Google co‐founder Sergey Brin with a message of support: https://plus.google.com/109813896768294978296/posts/VDzJbREx4K8

• British actor and writer Stephen Fry shows support for Pussy Riot and has a marvelous retort when criticized for it: http://on.fb.me/R2us4L
• PDF of this press release: http://www.theotherrussia.org/images/Garry-Kasparov-statement-on-lawsuits-support-and-how-you-can-help-Aug-23-2012.pdf

Here, Kasparov is dragged towards a police bus. (The supposed future bite victim is not involved.)

Here, (the man second from the left) is the supposed future bite victim with a preexisting wound on left index finger.

Nevertheless, his hand is fine enough to make a fist…

Pushes through the crowd…

And here he is, doing his job…

Kasparov’s jaw is clearly closed, unable to bite anyone…

And then he’s already locked up.

Given the disturbing events of the past few days, many people have been asking what they can do to help. Garry Kasparov’s non-profit organization, the Foundation for Democracy in Russia, supports legal defense for opposition activists. You can donate to the foundation by clicking here.

Tell your government to support “Magnitsky” legislation

Sergei Magnitsky was a lawyer who was killed in a Moscow pre-trial detention facility after uncovering a $230 million fraud scheme involving members of the Russian government, police, tax service, and mafia. None of the people who played a role in his death have been prosecuted. In response, politicians in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and many other European countries have introduced legislation that would ban the Russians involved from entering their countries and, in some cases, freeze their assets. Such measures would send a concrete message to Russia that its failure to prosecute these individuals is not acceptable by international standards. Contact your government representative and tell them that failing to support this legislation would be to ignore Russia’s flagrant abuse of human rights, civil rights, and the rule of law.

In the United States: http://www.senate.gov/reference/common/faq/How_to_contact_senators.htm
In Canada: http://www.canada.gc.ca/directories-repertoires/direct-eng.html
In the United Kingdom: http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/government-and-opposition1/her-majestys-government/

Donate to the Foundation for Democracy in Russia

The Foundation for Democracy in Russia (FDR) is Garry Kasparov’s non-profit organization supporting civil rights and democratic freedom in Russia. One of the most important initiatives that the foundation funds is a legal defense fund for political prisoners. You can donate to FDR by clicking here.

MOSCOW, RUSSIA
AUGUST 18, 2012

STATEMENT BY GARRY KASPAROV: CHAIRMAN, THE UNITED CIVIL FRONT

Given the disturbing events of the past few days, many people have been asking what they can do to help. Garry Kasparov’s non-profit organization, the Foundation for Democracy in Russia, supports legal defense for opposition activists. You can donate to the foundation by clicking here.

This purpose of this statement is to make clear the facts of my unlawful arrest by the Moscow police on August 17, 2012, outside the courthouse where the trial of the band Pussy Riot was taking place. I need make no complicated arguments, as there is a large amount of professional video publicly available that shows the police violently seizing me while I was chatting with journalists and later physically assaulting me. I plan to file suit for this illegal arrest and against the officers who attacked me.

This video evidence also categorically disproves the accusation made by the police that I assaulted an officer by biting him on the hand. The officer in question, and his hands, are clearly visible before, during, and after the police assault on me. There is never any sign of a bite, any visible injury, or any reaction from the officer as if he had been harmed. Article 318(1) of the Russian criminal code describes penalties from fines of 200,000 rubles ($6200) up to five years in prison for causing a minor injury to a uniformed state officer on duty. On Monday, August 20, I will be interrogated by the police on the matter of my supposed assault on a police officer. They will then decide whether or not to proceed with a criminal case against me. On August 23, I will be in court on the charge of participating an unsanctioned political rally on the 17th. Both allegations are preposterous and in any free nation with an independent judiciary they would be thrown out after a single viewing of the video record of events.

Unfortunately, having all the evidence in the world on my side will not help me in a Moscow courtroom. The sentencing of the members of Pussy Riot to two years in prison for an anti‐ Putin prank is only the latest demonstration that the rule of law in Putin’s Russia begins and ends in the Kremlin, and not with our Constitution. It does not matter who you are. Any demonstration of disobedience to the Putin police state is met with violence and persecution. The video evidence of August 17 does more than prove my innocence. It indicts the security forces as nothing more than political enforcers. They do not serve the state, which is defined by the Constitution. By committing these acts of brutality they want Russians to be afraid. But we are not afraid; we are angry. And we will stay angry until Vladimir Putin and his cruel, corrupt system are swept away.

VIDEO AND PHOTOGRAPHIC RECORD OF AUGUST 17, 2012

Below is a link to a compilation of annotated video footage showing the police violently seizing Garry Kasparov, lifting and carrying him to the police bus, and forcing him on board. The police refuse to answer Mr. Kasparov’s repeated question, “What am I being charged with?”

http://youtu.be/cBU5hl9T9Ho

Later, Mr. Kasparov is grabbed and beaten by several police officers outside the bus. One of these officers, highlighted in the video and in the video stills below, was reported injured by the police, who claimed Mr. Kasparov had bitten him on the hand. The videos and the photos show this officer striking Mr. Kasparov in the head with his left hand. There is never appearance of a bite or injury to the officer. The officer stays at the scene and uses both his hands with no sign of discomfort.

VIDEO SOURCES

• Срок/The Term: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf55YyMC6qk

• Grani.ru: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-pomYNiNps

• BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19300149

A PDF of the press release is available here.