Putin Signs ‘Blasphemy’ and ‘Gay Propaganda’ Bills

File Photo of Vladimir Putin Sitting at Desk

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – July 1, 2013) President Vladimir Putin has signed the so-called “blasphemy bill” and the “gay propaganda bill” ­ two pieces of legislation that have outraged the liberal opposition. Both bills were passed unanimously by the State Duma on June 11, 2013, and their full texts appeared on the Kremlin’s site Sunday. The blasphemy law will […]

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The Big Chill: Critics Say Kremlin Waging A War On Ideas

Kremlin and Moscow Environs Aerial View

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Robert Coalson – July 1, 2013) It’s not a great time to be a freethinker in Russia. Offending somebody’s religious sensibilities could get you prosecuted according to legislation signed this weekend by President Vladimir Putin. Criticizing the wrong person with a snarky comment on a social network could run afoul of a vaguely worded law criminalizing […]

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Interfax: Assange, Manning, Snowden are new dissidents – Pushkov

Alexei Pushkov file photo

(Interfax -MOSCOW. June 26, 2013) Alexei Pushkov, the head of the State Duma committee on international affairs, considers former CIA official Edward Snowden, who is wanted by the U.S. authorities, a dissident. “Assange, Manning and Snowden were not spies and released secret information because of their convictions, not for money. They are new dissidents, fighters against the system,” Pushkov said […]

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Draft amnesty applies to first time offenders – Kremlin

Russian Jail File Photo Showing Outer Wall, Windows, Barbed Wire

(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 25, 2013) The economic amnesty will apply to persons first indicted or convicted of economic crimes. They will be released from custody and their criminal cases probed by investigative authorities and courts will be closed. The rule is established by draft resolutions of the State Duma on the economic amnesty and regulations for the fulfillment of […]

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Law on foreign agents is not repressive – Naryshkin

Russian Duma Building

(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 20, 2013) Russian State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin believes it is important that society should understand that the legislation on NGOs is not restrictive in nature and the state is interested in increasing the number of NGOs and their unimpeded work. “As for NGOs, it is, of course, important that society should understand that the law […]

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Putin submits business amnesty, drops liberal bombshell in St. Petersburg

Empty Boardroom

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Artem Zagorodnov, RBTH – June 21, 2013) Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Russian President Vladimir Putin outlined several radically liberal economic reforms. In a move equally symbolic and practically important, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that a much-touted amnesty for businesspeople had been approved by his office and will be […]

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Pushkov sees start of non-American world order in Russia and China’s common position on Syria

Alexei Pushkov file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 18, 2013) Chairman of the State Duma’s International Affairs Committee Alexei Pushkov of the United Russia faction said Russia and China’s position on the Syrian settlement marks an important stage in global politics. “Russia and China’s common position on Syria is seen in the West as a disappointing misunderstanding. But in fact, it marks the beginning […]

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Russian Clans’ Ongoing Feud

Kremlin and Moscow Environs Aerial View

(Institute of Modern Russia – imrussia.org – Donald N. Jensen – June 13, 2013) The fundamental driver of Russian elite politics is the clan: a network of personal contacts that cuts across facile divisions between “state” and “oligarchs,” liberals” and “conservatives,” and “reformers” and “siloviki.” According to Donald N. Jensen, Resident Fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations at the […]

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State Duma’s internet piracy bill stirs public outcry

File Image of Stylized Eye Surrounded by Binary Code

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Alexandra Guzeva, RBTH – June 14, 2013) Attempts to toughen Russia’s piracy laws were met with hostility among bloggers and advocates, resulting in a softer version in parliament. A draft bill to fight Internet piracy is moving forward in the Duma after a more punitive version provoked a firestorm of criticism. Attempts to […]

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Activists Fear Repercussions of ‘Blasphemy Bill’

File Photo of Russian Orthodox Cathedral with Man in Religious Garb in Foreground

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – June 14, 2013) The bill protecting “believers’ feelings,” which rights activists and analysts have called a “step back” for Russia, a legal “Pandora’s Box” and a return to the Dark Ages, looks set to take effect in July after sailing through the State Duma with a unanimous vote on Wednesday. The so-called […]

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Russia to Fast-Track New Online Censorship Bill

Russian Duma Building

(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 12, 2013) ­ A Russian parliamentary committee approved for review a new controversial anti-piracy law dubbed “the Russian SOPA” by critics after a similar US bill. The bill will undergo on Friday the first of three required readings in the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, and may be passed by mid-July, […]

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‘Blasphemy Bill’ in Effect From July

File Photo of Russian Orthodox Cathedral with Man in Religious Garb in Foreground

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – June 11, 2013) The controversial legislation that introduces tough penalties for offending believers’ feelings is set to come into force in July after State Duma Deputies approved a number of amendments to the bill in a third and final reading. Hefty fines and possible prison sentences for offenders from both Russia and abroad are included […]

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Russia’s human rights ombudsman warns against consequences of bill banning ‘gay propaganda’

Vladimir Lukin file photo

(Interfax – June 11, 2013) Russian human rights commissioner Vladimir Lukin said that he feared “unwise” application of a bill banning propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations, which the Russian State Duma could pass in the the second and third readings on Tuesday. “The main issue will be the administration of the law. Cruel and unwise administration could lead to human […]

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Most Russians want ‘gay propaganda’ to be banned – poll

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Interfax – June 11, 2013) Russians have become more intolerable to homosexuality over the past few years, and the share of opponents of same-sex marriages has grown, the VTSIOM pollster has reported. Eighty-eight percent of Russian citizens welcome the proposed ban on the propaganda of homosexuality, compared to 86 percent in 2012, and only 7 percent support it. “A relative […]

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RIA Novosti: Russian Senior MP Says USA Cannot Disrupt Integration In Post Soviet Space

Alexei Pushkov file photo

(RIA Novosti – June 10, 2013) The USA will not be able to hinder integration processes in the post-Soviet space, chairman of the Russian State Duma’s International Affairs Committee Aleksey Pushkov has said. He was speaking at a news conference in Moscow on 10 June, as reported by the Russian news agency RIA Novosti on the same day. Pushkov said: […]

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Missile Defense Key to Developing US-Russian Ties – MP

Russian Duma Building

(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 10, 2013) ­ Resolving differences between Russia and the United States over missile defense is key to developing bilateral relations, a senior Russian lawmaker said Monday. “Missile defense has become a key issue: If we find a common language here, we could speak of a beginning of new positive dynamics in US-Russian relations,” Alexei Pushkov, […]

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Revised Russian ‘Gay Propaganda’ Ban To Be Put To Key Vote On 11 June

Russian Duma Building

(RIA Novosti – June 6, 2013) A controversial piece of Russian legislation banning the promotion of homosexuality among children has undergone significant changes since it won preliminary approval in January and is to be put to its key second reading in parliament on 11 June, Russian news agencies reported on 6 June, quoting senior MPs involved in pushing for the […]

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Putin Says Amnesty Plan for Businessmen Needs Refining

Vladimir Putin file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – May 24, 2013) President Vladimir Putin, who was expected during a meeting with more than a hundred entrepreneurs on Thursday to give a nod to the State Duma to draft an amnesty act freeing thousands of imprisoned business people, said the concept needed more work, Russian television reported Thursday. Putin said at […]

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Medvedev: government officials should share economic risks by keeping money in Russia

File Photo of Cash, Coins, Line Graph

(Interfax – MOSCOW, May 22, 2013) Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev believes that government officials and members of parliament should share economic risks with the rest of the country and keep their money in Russian banks, but he is not convinced that they should be prohibited from holding foreign assets. “Members of the government, State Duma deputies, administration officials should after […]

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Russian human rights activist, MPs criticize anti-blasphemy bill

Duma Session file photo

(Interfax – Moscow, May 21, 2013) The head of Russia’s oldest human rights organization, the Moscow Helsinki Group, Lyudmila Alekseyeva, has said that the draft bill on the protection of believers’ feelings passed by the State Duma in the second reading (today) violates human rights and contravenes the Constitution, despite softening amendments. “This is yet another repressive bill,” Alekseyeva told […]

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Pushkov says Kudrin directly responsible for current state of Russian economy

Alexei Kudrin file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, May 21, 2013) Head of the Russian State Duma’s International Affairs Committee, the United Russia member, Alexei Pushkov, said that former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin was responsible for the current state of the Russian economy. “Kudrin is better not to say anything on the current state of the economy. He is directly guilty of it. GDP dropped […]

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Kremlin Faces Barbs From All Sides on Human Rights

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jonathan Earle – May 21, 2013) Russia is facing a renewed barrage of international criticism, led by the European Union, over its human rights record in connection with an ongoing clampdown on non-governmental organizations and a State Duma proposal to ban so-called “homosexual propaganda.” The EU on Friday expressed growing concerns about the situation, including […]

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Bill on mixed elections to Duma to determine development of Russia’s entire political system – Naryshkin

Duma Session file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, May 20, 2013) The new bill on mixed elections to the Russian State Duma will become the basis for the development of the political system in the country, however it is difficult to forecast what this system would be like in five years, State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin said on Monday. “In my point of view, this […]

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Putin’s Patriotism: Duma May Make Criticism of WWII Illegal

File Photo of Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – May 17, 2013) Editor’s note: This is part of an occasional series on state initiatives to promote patriotism. The State Duma has ordered an evaluation of a comment made by opposition politician Leonid Gozman in which he compared a Soviet intelligence agency to Adolf Hitler’s SS on the grounds that the comment […]

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‘Blasphemy Bill’ Signals Return to 18th-Century Morals, Activists Say

File Photo of Russian Orthodox Cathedral with Man in Religious Garb in Foreground

(Moscow Times – thesmoscowtimes.com – Alexander Winning – May 17, 2013) Rights activists on Thursday ridiculed the notion that Russia is a secular state, saying draft legislation seeking tougher penalties for offending believers’ feelings shows the country is returning to 18th-century morals. “Officials and religious leaders are leading us back to Peter the Great’s times,” Viktor Bondarenko, founder of rights […]

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Naryshkin wants partial amnesty of people convicted for economic crimes

Russian Duma Building

(Interfax – May 13, 2013) State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin has partially backed the proposal made by business ombudsman Boris Titov on amnesty for economic crimes. “Some citizens convicted for so-called economic crimes can and should be amnestied. Some of those who have committed economic crimes should still serve their sentences,” Naryshkin told reporters in the State Duma on Monday. […]

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Only 7% Russians have positive attitude to State Duma deputies – poll

Duma Session file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, April 25, 2013) Russians firstly have negative associations regarding a State Duma deputy and many consider deputies to be dishonest, self-seeking and away from people, the poll of the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) showed. The main associations Russians have with a State Duma deputy are: “a corrupt official” (20%), “greed for gain” (9%) and negative […]

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Russian MP Slams Foreign Human Rights Bodies’ Reports Criticizing Country

Russian Duma Building

(RIA Novosti – April 24, 2013) The head of the inter-factional group of MPs for cooperation of institutions of civil society with law-enforcement bodies, Mikhail Starshinov, considers the Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International organizations to be hostages of their stereotypes and has said that their reports are politicized, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported on 24 April. On […]

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Putin generally happy with PM Medvedev’s Duma speech

Russian Duma Building

(Interfax – April 17, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin is generally “positive” about Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev’s annual speech to the State Duma on the work of the government on 17 April, presidential press secretary Dmitriy Peskov said on the same day, as reported by Russian privately owned Interfax news agency. Putin “on the whole gave a positive assessment of […]

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Duma to Consider Lifting Ban on Child Adoptions

File Photo of Russian Orphans with Mr. and Mrs. Dmitry Medvedev

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 17, 2013) The State Duma was scheduled on Wednesday to discuss a bill to lift the ban on U.S. parents adopting Russian children, even as Russian investigators accused another U.S. couple of failing to protect their child. The bill’s authors, Just Russia Deputies Dmitry Gudkov, Ilya Ponomaryov and Valery Zubov, said the ban needed […]

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Duma Endorses Election Reform in First Reading

Duma Session file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Winning – April 17, 2013) The State Duma on Tuesday passed in a first reading a bill that would reintroduce a mixed voting system for parliamentary elections, despite a heated argument on the Duma floor that it favors pro-Kremlin forces. In voting late Tuesday afternoon, 296 lawmakers voted in favor of the bill, 148 […]

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Medvedev Addresses Duma at Noon (Live Blog)

Russian Duma Building

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 17, 2013) Moscow Times reporter Anatoly Medetsky is providing a live blog of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s visit at noon to the State Duma, where he will recap the Cabinet’s activities for the past year and offer an account of his upcoming plans. 3:45 p.m.: Medvedev wrapped up his Duma appearance after a closing […]

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Down, boy!

Russian Duma Building

(opendemocracy.net – Mikhail Loginov – April 15, 2013) Mikhail Loginov is a journalist and novelist based in St Petersburg. He is the author of the recently published bestselling political thriller “Battle for Kremlin”. Broadcaster Vladimir Posner’s ‘slip of the tongue’, calling Russia’s parliament the Dura (fool) instead of the Duma, added yet another slur to the already emasculated body. A […]

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Russians want to know MP’s income, spending, would ban foreign assets – poll

Duma Session file photo

(Interfax –  Moscow, April 15, 2013) Only 4 per cent of Russian do not care what incomes State Duma deputies have, while the vast majority (92 per cent) would like to know this and therefore support the use of such measures as mandatory declaration of incomes and spending for the elected representatives of the people. Some 90 per cent of […]

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Putin Has More Free Speech Than All Media

Duma Session file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Michael Bohm – April 12, 2013) Michael Bohm is opinion page editor of The Moscow Times. State Duma Deputy Alexei Mitrofanov, who heads the Duma committee regulating the media, came up with a new idea two weeks ago to fight the Kremlin’s battle against “insulting speech” aimed at politicians: increase the fines against media outlets […]

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Just Russia Chairman Signals Shift Toward Kremlin

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Winning – April 12, 2013) Russian society is disillusioned with the wayward anti-Kremlin protest movement, and the center-left Just Russia party will not pander to self-proclaimed opposition leaders, the party’s chairman said Thursday. “An atmosphere of disillusionment predominates in society today, not only disillusionment with the ruling regime but also with the so-called protest […]

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Kremlin Backs Law Protecting Religious Sentiment – Spokesman

Russian Duma Building

(RIA Novosti – ULAN-UDE, April 11, 2013) ­ The Kremlin favors the idea of adopting a law protecting the religious feelings of Russian citizens, the Russian presidential spokesman said Thursday. Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, passed the bill in the first reading on Tuesday. “The Kremlin supports the idea of the law, and the wording of the […]

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Big Changes Afoot – But Only After Sochi

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – April 11, 2013) The number 303 stood Wednesday on a digital clock on Manezh Square that counts down the days to the 2014 Sochi Olympics, and President Vladimir Putin is watching it closely as the government races to make the final preparations for the Games. But that clock may be counting down […]

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Medvedev to Face Angry Duma Next Week

Dmitry Medvedev file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 10, 2013) Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will face withering criticism and calls to fire at least one minister when he delivers his first address on the work of his Cabinet to the State Duma next week. Medvedev is scheduled to speak in the Duma on April 17, and he also will meet with the […]

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Duma Approves ‘Blasphemy Bill’ in First Reading

Duma Session file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Winning – April 10, 2013) The State Duma on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed in a first reading a contentious bill that would radically toughen penalties for those who offend believers’ feelings or desecrate relics and places of worship. Supporters of the legislation say it aims to safeguard traditional Russian values, which they say are under […]

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Russia determined to build real democracy – parliament speaker

Arm and Torso of Person in Brown Sweater Placing Paper Ballot into Ballot Box

(Interfax – HELSINKI. April 3, 2013) Russia is determined to build “a full-scale democratic society,” said State Duma Chairman Sergei Naryshkin. “Undoubtedly, building a democratic society is a very complex, very large-scale social and political project in any country, and there are hardly any naive people in this audience who believe that such a project can be carried out at […]

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Many Russians Believe Lawmakers Fulfill Kremlin’s Wishes, Survey Shows

Duma Session file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – March 28, 2013) Fewer Russians approve of the work of the State Duma and many believe that lawmakers are dependent on the Kremlin, a survey released Thursday showed. Thirty-seven percent of respondents surveyed by the Levada Center said that lawmakers are completely dependent on the Kremlin and do whatever the executive branch requests, while 30 […]

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Pushkov says liberal media fighting with State Duma, Kremlin over power

Russian Duma Building

MOSCOW. March 25 (Interfax) – Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, believes the liberal media have assumed the role of the right-wing opposition. “The right-wing opposition is now extremely weak. The liberal media have assumed its role. Their attacks on the State Duma and the Kremlin are not just episodes, but a tough fight for […]

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Russian lawmakers are richer than ministers – poll

Duma Session file photo

MOSCOW. March 26 (Interfax) – Recent polls indicate that in the opinion of Russian citizens, lawmakers are the wealthiest of civil servants, and they proposed setting an income limit for those seeking civil service. Fifty-five percent of respondents said deputies of the State Duma and the Federation Council are the richest among civil servants, and 52% said government executives are, […]

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Does Putin Need His Parliament?

Duma Session file photo

(opendemocracy.net – Dmitri Travin – March 19, 2013) Dmitri Travin is Research Director at the European University in St. Petersburg’s Centre of Modernization Studies Russia’s ruling party, ‘United Russia’, is significantly weaker than previously. Does Putin still need ‘his’ party or is it now more of a millstone round his neck? The economy is stagnant and the electoral system is […]

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Deputies Seek Probe Into Gudkov For ‘Supporting U.S.’

File Photo of Gennady Gudkov

MOSCOW, March 15 (RIA Novosti) ­ Deputies from the Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, accused their opposition-supporting colleague Dmitry Gudkov on Friday of supporting the United States against Russia, and have appealed to the its ethics commission to investigate his conduct. The deputies claim Gudkov, one of few dissenting voices left in the State Duma, gave a speech at […]

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Kremlin Slams Embarrassing Report that Claims United Russia Lost Duma Elections

Russian Duma Building

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris – March 14, 2013) The Kremlin said on March 13 that the author of a report that claims the ruling United Russia party actually lost the 2011 elections to the Communist Part of the Russian Federation thanks to fraud needs psychiatric help is surprising and extremely embarrassing. The report is embarrassing as […]

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No Reason For Early Dissolution of State Duma – MP

Duma Session file photo

MOSCOW. March 15 (Interfax) – The chairman of the State Duma Constitutional Legislation and State Development Committee, Vladimir Pligin, has said he sees no reason to dissolve the current State Duma before its term in office expires. “There are no grounds to dissolve the current State Duma, which was elected in accordance with laws and the constitution. That is why […]

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Kremlin Rebuffs Report Questioning Duma Vote

Duma Session file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Winning – March 14, 2013) Senior government officials on Wednesday rejected as pure fantasy a leaked report that cast doubt on the ruling United Russia party’s victory in the 2011 State Duma elections, saying its author should seek psychiatric help. The report, written by Stepan Sulakshin, director of the Governance and Problem Analysis Center, […]

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Scandal Hits Duma Anti-Graft Chief

Russian Duma Building

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jonathan Earle – March 12, 2013) Irina Yarovaya, head of the State Duma’s powerful Anti-Corruption and Security Committee, on Monday became the latest United Russia deputy to face embarrassing allegations of ethics violations with the publication of a report accusing her of de facto owning a multimillion-dollar apartment. Despite declared earnings of 2.9 million rubles […]

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