Tag: Protests

Kasparov ‘Refrains’ From Returning to Russia Over Bolotnoye Case Fears

Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Older File Photo of Garry Kasparov

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – June 6, 2013) Garry Kasparov, the world chess champion-turned-political-opposition-stalwart, told a news conference in Geneva that he would not return to Russia for fear of criminal prosecution for his political activities, his website reported Wednesday. Kasparov’s announcement comes amid fears of a new wave of emigration of opposition-minded intellectuals, a fear intensified […]

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Memorial wants independent evaluation of May 6, 2012 events in Bolotnaya Square

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 6, 2013) The human rights center Memorial has called for an independent legal evaluation of the events that occurred in the Moscow Bolotnaya Square on May 6, 2012 and the trial of the people charged in the riots, which is now beginning. “We believe it is extremely important to conduct an independent legal evaluation of the […]

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In Search of Russia’s Middle Class

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Moscow Protest file photo

(Institute of Modern Russia – imrussia.org – Donald N. Jensen – May 29, 2013) The 2011-2012 pro-democracy rallies in Russia pointed to a growing political awareness and political muscle of the country’s middle class. Donald N. Jensen, Resident Fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, discusses the Russian middle class, its […]

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Moscow Court Orders Release of Opposition-Backed Businessman

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Russian Jail File Photo Showing Outer Wall, Windows, Barbed Wire

(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, May 31, 2013) ­ Moscow’s City Court ordered the release from prison on Friday of a businessman whose freedom was among the demands of the recent opposition rallies in the Russian capital. Alexei Kozlov was given eight years in prison in 2009 for fraud and “legalization of stolen property,” or the use of illegally obtained property […]

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‘Honeymoon’ With Opposition Over, Say Russian Pundits

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Map of Russia

(RIA Novosti – May 29, 2013) The protest staged by the opposition on 6 May 2013 has attracted less attention than the March of Millions on 6 May last year, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported on 29 May, quoting an opinion poll. In an interview with the agency a political analyst said that after a “honeymoon” protests are […]

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Young people should know ‘true essence’ of Bolotnaya Square protests – Smolensk governor

Education, Academia, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Interfax – SMOLENSK, Russia, May 28, 2013) The governor of the Smolensk region has insisted on organizing discussions at local secondary schools and higher education institutions to tell students about the “true essence” of opposition rallies on Moscow’s Bolotnaya Square, an Interfax correspondent reported from a regional conference. “Stories are being widely told about events on Bolotnaya Square, about protest […]

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Are we having fun yet? Why the government is telling the creative class to go play outside

Life in Russia, Culture, Arts, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Gorky Park file photo

(Moscow News – Anna Arutunyan, Editor and Correspondent at themoscownews.com – May 27, 2013) It was the best of times, it was the worst of… you get it. There is an awful lot of Pinot Grigio being consumed in Moscow this summer, the parks are filled with the same crowds that took to the streets in protest last year, and, […]

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Prison or presidency for ‘Russia’s Kennedy’? [re: Navalny]

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Alexei Navalny Being Grabbed by Police at Protest

(opendemocracy.net – Ekaterina Loushnikov – May 25, 2013) Ekaterina Loushnikova is radio and print journalist based in the city of Kirov Charismatic opposition leader Aleksey Navalny is on trial in the provincial capital of Kirov, 900km from Moscow. He is controversially accused of stealing timber worth 16 million roubles in 2009; if found guilty, he will spend his next few […]

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Why Navalny Will Most Likely Be Convicted

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Alexei Navalny Being Grabbed by Police at Protest

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – May 23, 2013) Alexei Navalny, the opposition leader currently on trial for fraud, has expressed certainty that he has slim chances of getting a not guilty verdict, and he is almost certainly right. The inevitability of the ruling is not due to the fact that he is such an outspoken critic of […]

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Poll shows little appetite for protests in Russia

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Interfax – May 21, 2013) The protest mood in Russia is low, Interfax news agency reported on 21 May, citing a poll conducted by independent Russian pollster Levada Centre. According to the poll results published on the Levada Centre website on the same day (http://www.levada.ru/21-05-2013/gotovnost-uchastvovat-v-protestakh), 68 per cent of respondents said mass protests against falling living standards or in support […]

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Navalny Defense Aided by Kirov Governor Testimony

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Regions, Cities, Municipalities
File Photo of Alexei Navalny Being Grabbed by Police at Protest

(RIA Novosti – KIROV, May 22, 2013) ­ Russia’s beleaguered opposition figurehead, Alexei Navalny, was given a boost in his fight against controversial embezzlement charges on Wednesday when a regional governor testified in his favor. Navalny and a former political ally, Kirov businessman Pyotr Ofitserov, are charged with heading a criminal group that investigators say embezzled 16 million rubles’ ($500,000) […]

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The incompetent many or the corrupt few?

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and Moscow Environs Aerial View

(opendemocracy.net – Grigorii Golosov – May 20, 2013) Grigorii Golosov is Professor of Political Science, Project Director, Center for Democracy and Human Rights Helix, St. Petersburg Recent protest rallies and continuing opposition sentiment have provoked the Kremlin into reform.  The first part of the process sees the partial return of regional governor elections, abandoned nine years ago in favour of […]

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Moscow News: No more rainbows: anti-gay sentiment rises in Russia

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Kristen Blyth – May 20, 2013) “Homosexuality is not a perversion. Perversion is hockey on grass and ballet on ice!” reads one picket sign, held aloft by a middle-aged man. “Against all forms of discrimination,” proclaims another, held by a young woman. “My gender is my choice,” says a third. The scene was Moscow Pride. […]

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Witness in Navalny Trial Backs Prosecutors’ Allegations

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Alexei Navalny Being Grabbed by Police at Protest

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – May 16, 2013) A witness in the trial on large-scale embezzlement charges against opposition blogger Alexei Navalny testified Thursday that the defendant had offered a disadvantageous contract to a state company that he is accused of defrauding. Larisa Bastrygina, deputy director of KirovLes, told the Leninsky District Court in Kirov that Navalny, […]

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Recycling Old Soviet Chestnuts

Human Rights, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's
Kremlin and Moscow Environs Aerial View

(opendemocracy.net – Daniel Treisman – May 10, 2013) Daniel Treisman is a Professor of Political Science at UCLA. His work focuses on the politics and political economy of Russia, and on comparative political economy. However much the regime might try to plot a new political trajectory, its only success is in intensifying a feeling of drift and improvisation. Unforced errors […]

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Russian rights activists, U.S. secretary of state did not discuss Magnitsky bill, Bolotnaya case

Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of John Kerry and Sergei Lavrov at Separte Podiums, Kerry with a Visible Earpiece; Adapted from Photo at state.gov

(Interfax – MOSCOW, May 8, 2013) Russian human rights activists did not discuss the work of NGOs in their meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Moscow Helsinki Group Chairman Lyudmila Alekseyeva told reporters on Wednesday. “We discussed the persecution of NGOs. Kerry was impressed by our story. We did not discuss financing,” Alekseyeva said. “We did not discuss […]

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Russian opposition tries to hold on despite challenges

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Stanislav Kuvaldin, special to RBTH – May 8, 2013) While the government has succeeded in isolating its most vocal opponents, the opposition itself is driving other activists away due to its lack of organization. The Russian opposition held a rally on May 6 to mark the anniversary of last year’s mass protests at […]

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May 5 protest action is aimed as provocation

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Moscow Protest file photo

(Interfax – May 3, 2013) The opposition forces who are organizing a rally in Bolotnaya Square in central Moscow on May 6 have accused the organizing committee of a protest, which is expected to take place in the same venue on May 5, of planning a provocation. “Our organizing committee has a strongly negative attitude to the May 5 protest action. […]

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The Uphill Job of Mending Fences with the Kremlin

Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Terrorism, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Vladimir Putin Leaning Towards Barack Hussein Obama With Flags Behind Them

(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 10, Issue 83 – Pavel Felgenhauer – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – May 2, 2013) Speaking to reporters after last week’s (April 25) lengthy, televised, national question-and-answer (Q & A) session, President Vladimir Putin declared he “was optimistic this tragedy [the April 15 Boston Marathon bombing] will facilitate greater security cooperation, benefiting both America and Russia” […]

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Unions, Bloggers, Lonely Girls Rally in Russia on Labor Day

Life in Russia, Culture, Arts, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Map of Russia

(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, May 1, 2013) ­ Hundreds of thousands of people rallied across Russia on Wednesday to mark Labor Day with events ranging from Soviet-style state-endorsed marches to campaigns for promotion of European techno and single ladies’ rights. Moscow saw seven rallies, the biggest of them being a march of labor unions in Moscow, co-organized by the ruling […]

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Russians to Skip May Day Rallies Even as Protest Mood Grows

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Moscow Protest file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 29, 2013) Despite an uptick in protest sentiment, most Russians will stay away from street rallies during the May Day holidays, according to a new poll. At least 70 percent of respondents said they were not planning to participate in annual street rallies either for or against the authorities on May 1, the independent […]

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Putin and Russian History

History, Soviet Union, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Spies, Spy Allegations
File Photo of Vladimir Putin Sitting at Desk

From: Arch Getty <getty@ucla.edu> Subject: Putin and Russian History Date: Fri, 26 Apr 2013 Putin and Russian History By J. Arch Getty J. Arch Getty is Professor of History at UCLA.  He is the author of several books on Russian history, including Practicing Stalinism: Boyars, Bolsheviks and the Persistence of Tradition, forthcoming from Yale University Press. An occupational hazard of […]

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Moscow’s ‘Hyde Parks’ awaiting applications

Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Gorky Park file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, April 15, 2013) The official portals of the Gorky Park (www.park-gorkogo.com) and Sokolniki Park (www.park.sokolniki.com) have opened the Hyde Park division, which are accepting applications to hold public rallies. The Gorky Park portal says that the site to hold public rallies can take up to 2,000 people. Public meetings can take place between 7 a.m. and 10 […]

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Case Against Russia’s ‘Bolotnaya’ Protesters Gathers Steam

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Russian Riot Police file photo

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Claire Bigg – April 15, 2013) A helmeted policeman drags a woman down a barricaded street, one arm tightly locked around her neck. Dozens of riot police in full gear look on as the young woman, wearing a short black dress, gasps for air. The scene is captured in a dramatic snapshot taken at a sanctioned […]

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Dozens in ‘Risk Group’ over Moscow Riots Case – Opposition

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and St. Basil's

(RIA Novosti – Alexey Eremenko – MOSCOW, April 11, 2013) ­ The list of suspects in the controversial investigation into last year’s riots at an anti-Kremlin rally in Moscow is much longer than previously announced, an opposition website said on Thursday. The Investigative Committee currently has 86 suspects in addition to the 26 people already arrested, charged or convicted over […]

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Coming clean: As Navalny’s trial looms, it’s time for a reality check

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Alexei Navalny file photo

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – April 8, 2013 – Anna Arutunyan) Anna Arutunyan is an editor and correspondent at themoscownews.com Coming back from a monthlong break, I’ve seen a flurry of activity. There’s an anti-corruption drive that’s either meant to curb capital flight or get a better grip on State Duma deputies, the court date for Alexei Navalny’s embezzlement trial […]

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Protest Movement Inspires a Flood of Anti-Kremlin Art

Life in Russia, Culture, Arts, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Moscow Protest file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Oleg Sukhov – April 8, 2013) “Do you dare come to the square where the regiments are waiting … between the Senate and Synod?” These lines, though written by Russian poet Alexander Galich in 1968 about the Decembrist revolt of 1825 on St. Petersburg’s Senatskaya Ploshchad, express the spirit of the art inspired by Russia’s […]

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All dissidents now: Russia’s protests and the mirror of history

History, Soviet Union, Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and St. Basil's

(opendemocracy.net – Tom Rowley – March 29, 2013) Tom Rowley is a PhD student at the University of Cambridge. His work investigates how dissidents are remembered in Russia from perestroika to the present day. THE CEELBAS DEBATE // How far does the current clash between the opposition and authorities reflect Russia’s history of dissidence?  Tom Rowley considers the importance of […]

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Raids on opposition spread to regions

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Regions, Cities, Municipalities
Map of Russia

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Anna Arutunyan – April 2, 2013) Russian law enforcement authorities have widened their search for opposition figures involved in the violent May 6 protest rally last year, with a series of raids in at least four regional cities, activists said. The raids were part of an ongoing criminal investigation into the violence that broke out […]

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Pussy Riot stunt was caused by moral decline – justice minister

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Religion
File Photo of Pussy Riot Member in Courtroom Cage, Grinning and Gesturing with Clasped Hands

MOSCOW. March 25 (Interfax) – Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov believes the stunt carried out by the feminist punk group Pussy Riot in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior is an indication of a moral decline in society. “There has been a considerable moral decline. The dancing of the girls, who consider themselves art revolutionaries, on the ambon of a church […]

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Poll suggests over one-third of Russians want parole for Pussy Riot performer

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Religion
File Photo of Pussy Riot Members in Courtroom Enclosure, With Man Showing Papers to One While Female Guard Looks On

MOSCOW. March 25 (Interfax) – Russians who would like Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, one of the jailed members of the Pussy Riot punk rock band, to be released on parole make up roughly the same proportion as those who want her to serve out her two-year term, an opinion poll suggests. On March 20, the chairman of the Public Supervisory Commission of […]

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Former ‘Provocateur’ Blames Police for Bolotnaya Clashes

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – March 22, 2013) A man professing to be a former government operative has said that police officials, including the former interior minister, were involved in organizing clashes at an opposition rally last year, allegations that members of the Kremlin human rights council say could be trustworthy. The online television channel Politvestnik posted […]

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Russia’s Regions Go Back to the Streets to Protest

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Regions, Cities, Municipalities
Map of Russia

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Olga Doronina, special to RBTH – March 12, 2013) While Moscow’s street politicians take a breather, experts observe a rise of social activity in the Russian regions. In contrast to the capital, the demands of the Russian hinterland are social rather than political. In its monthly analytical ranking of social and political stability […]

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Local Heroes in Russia

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Moscow Traffic file photo

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Julia Reed in Moscow – March 13, 2013) The political demonstrations that started in December 2011 caught the headlines, but a Russian revolution to oust President Vladimir Putin failed to appear and the broad protest movement is petering out. However, those protests have given birth to the beginnings of a real civil society and […]

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Moscow-Centrism Russian Opposition’s ‘Main Mistake,’ Activist Says

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Regions, Cities, Municipalities
Map of Russia

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, March 11, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/03/window-on-eurasia-moscow-centrism.html) The “main mistake” of the Russian opposition in the past has been its focus that on Moscow rather than on the regions, but clashes between demonstrators and the authorities in Russia’s regions are prompting them to redirect their attention, a shift that will generate “a wave of […]

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If Pussy Riot not punished, thousands could have followed them – Russian Chief Rabbi

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Religion
File Photo of Pussy Riot Members in Courtroom Enclosure, With Man Showing Papers to One While Female Guard Looks On

Moscow, March 5, Interfax – Russia’s Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar supports the punishment of the members of the Pussy Riot punk band for their performance in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. “If we talk about the sentence itself, I think it isn’t that bad, because they did hurt believers’ feelings. It’s obvious they were to be punished. […]

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Arrest and custody, Russian-style

Assassinations, Beatings, Threats, Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and St. Basil's

(www.opendemocracy.net – Grigory Okhotin – February 22, 2031) Grigory Okhotin is a journalist and co-founder of the grassroots police monitoring organisation OVD-Info [‘police-info’]. [Charts here: http://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/grigory-okhotin/arrest-and-custody-russian-style] Police custody, violence, trials and imprisonment have been all to common features on the Russian protest landscape since December 2011. A grassroots monitoring project called OVD-info has kept realtime data on the arrests; co-founder […]

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The interior ministry attempts to professionalize and reform the Russian police; Inadequate Professionalism in the Police Forces Remains a Problem for the Russian State

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Russian Policeman with Face Turned Towards Van

(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 10, Issue 32 – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – Richard Arnold – February 20, 2013) New recruits to the Russian police will soon undergo mandatory polygraph tests in order to gain admission to the force. The requirement, introduced in June 2012 as part of a comprehensive reform of the police, will now be introduced in practice […]

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ANNOUNCEMENT: Pussy Riot – New Issue of Russian Analytical Digest (RAD)

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Religion
File Photo of Pussy Riot Members in Courtroom Enclosure, With Man Showing Papers to One While Female Guard Looks On

Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2013 From: “Russian Analytical Digest (RAD)” <newslist@isn.ch> Subject: No.122: Pussy Riot RUSSIAN ANALYTICAL DIGEST Newsletter 4 February 2013/No. 122 Pussy Riot To download this issue please click here: http://www.css.ethz.ch/publications/DetailansichtPubDB_EN?rec_id=2415 Analyses Failed for Now: Pussy Riot and the Rule of Law in Russia, by Caroline von Gall, Cologne The Pussy Riot Trial and the Russian Orthodox Church, […]

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‘Optimistic’ Channel Gets a Sobering Makeover

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television
Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Eradzh Nidoev – February 19, 2013) More than a year after the start of marches against allegedly rigged Duma elections, the burning caldron that was the Russian protest movement cooled to a gentle bubbling, while its participants went back to their usual temperate lives. Such a turn of events poses a problem for the Dozhd […]

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Moscow Court Orders Officials to Respond to Protester Appeals

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Moscow Protest file photo

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, February 17, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/02/window-on-eurasia-russian-officials.html) Russian officials have ignored a 2004 law requiring them to respond to appeals lodged by demonstrators, but now some protesters and their lawyers are using the courts to force at least some government agencies to respond, a development that some say opens the way to a new […]

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Russia’s Protests Researched by U.S. Scholars

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Moscow Winter Protest

(Institute of Modern Russia – www.imrussia.org – February 14, 2013 – click here for original posting) Recent protests in Russia have been studied by scholars from the time they began in December 2011. In the last two weeks, the Harriman Institute held two discussion panels, at which US experts shared their thoughts about the prospects for Russia’s opposition movement. The […]

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New Report: U.S. Needs Post-Reset Policy on Russia

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Vladimir Putin Leaning Towards Barack Hussein Obama With Flags Behind Them

Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2013 From: Mary McGuire <mcguire@freedomhouse.org> Subject: New Report: U.S. Needs Post-Reset Policy on Russia Freedom House FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Mary McGuire at +1-202-747-7035 or mobile, +1-202-683-0909 New Report: U.S. Needs Post-Reset Policy on Russia Washington ­ February 6, 2013 ­ As President Obama enters his second term, he and his administration should formulate an approach […]

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Fool. Fool. Holy fool; How Pussy Riot is turning the government into a villain – and a crutch

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Religion
File Photo of Pussy Riot Members in Courtroom Enclosure, With Man Showing Papers to One While Female Guard Looks On

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Anna Arutunyan – February 4, 2013) Anna Arutunyan is the politics editor of The Moscow News Just when I thought I was done, they pull me back in. Nearly one year since the girls staged the punk rock dance that got two of them sent to penal colonies, they are still one of the world’s […]

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Quoting the constitution in Yekaterinburg

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Yekaterinburg file photo

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Natalia Antonova – February 4, 2013) The story, as told by Yekaterinburg-based journalist Aksana Panova on her Facebook page, is nothing short of amazing. Znak.com, an online portal where Panova works, decided to place banners with quotes from the Russian Constitution on the city streets. The banners went up – but not without a struggle. […]

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Police Held Over 5,000 At Russian Political Rallies – Report

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Moscow Protest file photo

MOSCOW, February 5 (RIA Novosti) – The police detained at least 5,156 people at political rallies in Moscow and its suburbs in the past 13 months, during modern Russia’s most restive period since the end of the USSR, a new report said. The detentions, often accompanied by violence, were made at some 228 rallies in the period between December 4, […]

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Police Began Violence At Protest, Panel Says

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Winning – February 4, 2013) Members of the Kremlin’s human rights council believe that police, not activists, instigated violence at a May opposition protest, a council member said Friday. “The qualification of the Bolotnaya Ploshchad protest as a mass riot was artificially thought up by the Investigative Committee. It does not reflect the reality […]

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NEWSLINK: Russian state TV talk show discusses controversial State Duma bills

Children, Adoptions, Orphans, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Kremlin and St. Basil's

[Russian state TV talk show discusses controversial State Duma bills – BBC Monitoring/Rossiya 1 – January 27, 2013] BBC Monitoring reports on the Rossiya 1 television program “Sunday Night with Vladimir Solovyev” and its January 27, 2013, broadcast covering Duma bills: The 27 January edition of the “Sunday Night with Vladimir Solovyev” talk show on state-owned Rossiya 1 TV featured […]

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NEWSLINK: Riot Police Stand By and Watch Attack on Homosexual Activists

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Russian Duma Building

[“Riot Police Stand By and Watch Attack on LGBT Activists” – Vedomosti – January 31, 2013] Vedomosti reports on a demonstration in front of the Duma featuring homosexual behavior in the form of same-sex kissing, broken up by “Orthodox fundamentalists,” with police reportedly then arresting only the homosexual demonstrators: … Russian authorities seem to have given up their monopoly on […]

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Russia: Worst Crackdown Since Soviet Era; Government Should Stop Pressure, Reprisals on Civil Society

Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse, Human Rights, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and St. Basil's

From: “HRW Press” <hrwpress@hrw.org> Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2013 Subject: Russia: Worst Crackdown Since Soviet Era For Immediate Release Russia: Worst Crackdown Since Soviet Era Government Should Stop Pressure, Reprisals on Civil Society (Moscow, January 31, 2013) ­ The Kremlinn in 2012 unleashed the worst political crackdown in Russia’s post-Soviet history, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report […]

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