Murmansk – The Other Russia

Murmansk Police Confiscate Anti-Putin Report, 2 Activists Detained

R J — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 17:30:45 +0000

One thousand copies of the harshly critical opposition report “Putin. Results. 10 Years” have been confiscated by police in the northern city of Murmansk, Kasparov.ru reports.

Representatives of the Murmansk branch of the opposition movement Solidarity said that local police detained two activists when they attempted to transfer the report from a train to their vehicle. The two were sent to a local police station and told that the thousand copies were confiscated because Murmansk police suspected the report of constituting “extremist literature.” The report will now undergo expert analysis for the presence of extremist content, said the police.

As of Wednesday evening, the two activists had been released.

The incident marks the second time Russian police have confiscated copies of “Putin. Results. 10 Years” under allegations of extremism. Police in St. Petersburg confiscated 200 thousand copies of the report under this pretense this past June, but released them two weeks later after an analysis came up empty.

Wanton charges of extremism are commonly used by Russian law enforcement agencies to apply pressure to opposition groups that carry out activities deemed undesirable by the state.

“Putin. Results. 10 Years” is a forty-eight page analysis of the actions and policies of Russia’s former president and current prime minister, with topics ranging from corruption and crumbling infrastructure to population decline and the collapse of the pension system. The report’s authors, former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov and former Deputy Energy Minister Vladimir Milov, say they intend to distribute the document all over Russia, and have printed one million copies to that end. Police in various Russian cities have confiscated copies of the report on at least four separate occasions. The authors have issued a call for Russian citizens to print copies in samizdat fashion to distribute on their own.

Opposition Activist Covertly Imprisoned for 4 Months

Danila — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 23:42:10 +0000

Taras Yushchenko, an activist of the United Civil Front party who disappeared late last year, was held for four months in a pre-trial detention facility. Denis Bilunov, the executive director of the opposition political party, explained Yushchenko’s story at a press-conference on political repression in Russia.

According to Bilunov, Yushchenko disappeared shortly before an opposition demonstrations known as a March of Dissent was set to take place in Moscow in November 2007. The veteran of the Chechen war is an outspoken critic of the current administration, and he was planning to attend the protest.

Yushchenko was only released on March 13th. According to the activist, militsiya officers apprehended him, first taking him to a local precinct, and then to a pre-trial detention facility. Criminals are usually held in such centers while an investigation into their case is conducted. Yushchenko was then accused of involvement in an apartment robbery of a former prosecutor of the Murmansk oblast. The activist refutes the allegations, and claims that law enforcement had absolutely no evidence or grounds to connect him with the crime.

Yushchenko said that he was constantly subjected to beatings and derision while incarcerated. Investigators told him that he would only be moved or released in he confessed to the charges against him. Yushchenko eventually agreed to sign a confession statement, and was released from the detention facility. He maintains that the criminal case mounted against him is connected with his active participation in opposition events.

United Civil Front Activist Larisa Arap Held

Mig Greengard — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 03:57:12 +0000

Larisa Arap is a writer and an activist for the United Civil Front, the opposition group founded and chaired by Garry Kasparov in 2005. The UCF has been an integral force in the Other Russia since its inception and Larisa Arap has been active in our activities in Murmansk and elsewhere. Ms. Arap also wrote an article detailing abuses in children’s mental health facilities, including the use of electroshock. As a consequence, she has been abducted by the authorities in Murmansk at a psychiatric clinic. She was held from July 5 to July 18 with no medical or legal information being given out by authorities. Only later did a court say she was “a danger to herself and others” — the classic formulation. She is being held and medicated against her will, although the hospital will not confirm her presence there.

UPDATE JULY 30: Ms. Arap’s daughter Taisiya has been able to visit her mother in the hospital. She requested to see the diagnosis of her mother and was refused by doctors citing privileged information. The photo on the right was taken by her daughter with her cell phone at the clinic where her mother is being held. We will be following Ms. Arap’s story closely. [We understand that the American consul from St. Petersburg is heading to Murmansk to inquire.]

The use of psychiatric detention as a weapon of repression was quite popular in the days of the USSR. Dissidents regularly disappeared into prisons and hospitals under charges of mental instability. This time the interests are likely of a baser nature, as Kasparov puts it: “It could happen if you attack the interests of the local Gazprom, the local military base, the local medical mafia. Attacking the interests of local bureaucrats is a terrible risk, because they don’t stop at anything to get their own back.” This is not the first such incident of the Putin era and it is no surprise to see the revival of the old Soviet methods.

As is often the case after such incidents hit the news, Russian opposition websites have been attacked and made unavailable by massive DDOS assault. As of this writing, namarsh.ru and kasparov.ru are under attack.