Newly Freed Navalny Sets Sights on Mayor’s Office

Alexei Navalny file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko & Oleg Sukhov – July 22, 2013) Opposition leader Alexei Navalny, unexpectedly freed by a Kirov court a day after being jailed on embezzlement charges, got a hero’s welcome from hundreds of supporters when his train arrived in Moscow over the weekend, and he immediately announced that he would pursue his long-shot bid […]

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Pyotr Ofitserov: The Man Who Stood Beside Navalny To The Bitter End

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Robert Coalson – July 18, 2013) Opposition politician and anticorruption blogger Aleksei Navalny got all the press during the nearly four months of his trial. But he was not alone in the dock, as he took pains to point out during his closing remarks on July 5. “First, I would like to take this opportunity to […]

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Russia faces economic costs from Navalny’s conviction

File Photo of Outdoor Electronic Sign with Russian Exchange Data

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – July 19, 2013) The Kremlin was hit with what is like to be a serious of extremely expensive bills following the conviction of opposition blogger Alexei Navalny to five years in jail on corruption charges by a court in Kirov on July 19. Russia’s stock market tanked as the […]

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Navalny Sentence a Blow to Business

File Photo of Cash, Coins, Line Graph

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Irina Filatova – July 19, 2013) The Russian stock market reacted pessimistically Thursday following the ruling of a regional court that sentenced opposition leader Alexei Navalny to five years in prison for embezzlement. The sentence is widely believed to be another blow to Russia’s image and is likely to result in an a more dramatic […]

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Russian rights official says Navalnyy sentence could have dramatic consequences

Vladimir Lukin file photo

(Interfax – Moscow, July 18, 2013) Russian human rights commissioner Vladimir Lukin hopes that the appeal will lead to a serious change in the sentence given to opposition activist Aleksey Navalnyy, whom a court in Kirov jailed for five years. “I have no right to comment on the political aspect of the events. However, there will, most likely, be an […]

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Conviction turns Navalny into nationwide political figure – analyst

Alexei Navalny file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 18, 2013) Gleb Pavlovsky, a political analyst and head of the Efficient Politics Foundation, considers opposition activist Alexei Navalny’s conviction a mistake and believes this will only cause his popularity to grow. “Navalny made a lot of mistakes in the past. But in the past month, during the trial, Navalny has behaved very correctly, politically speaking. […]

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Interfax: Protests against Navalny’s conviction will be insignificant – pro-Kremlin analyst

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 18, 2013) The Russian opposition will try to take advantage of Alexei Navalny’s conviction in pursuing its political ends, but protests against this will not be very significant, says Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin political analyst and a member of the Public Chamber. “Some actions have been prepared and will be held, but they will be very […]

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Navalny’s Co-Defendant: Corrupt Biznes-man or Collateral Damage?

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Alexey Eremenko, RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, July 18, 2013) ­ This week, a little-known Russian business consultant named Pyotr Ofitserov finally took his eldest daughter on a long-promised visit to Moscow’s famed Tretyakov Gallery. They squeezed in the outing between errands on Tuesday afternoon, as Thursday Ofitserov expects to be jailed for up to five years. “It’s funny how much […]

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Navalny Verdict Dominates Russian News, Social Networks

Alexei Navalny file photo

(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, July 18, 2013) ­ Russian public figures and foreign diplomats on Thursday weighed in on the five-year jail sentence handed down to anti-Kremlin activist Alexei Navalny, with opinions ranging from grim pessimism among liberals and “disappointment” from the U.S. ambassador to mixed forecasts by economic analysts and claims of a fair trial by pro-Kremlin pundits. – […]

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Russian stock market nosedives on Navalny verdict

Alexei Navalny file photo

(RIA Novosti, The Moscow News – themoscownews.com – July 18, 2013) Russia’s stock market fell sharply on Thursday according to Moscow Exchange data, after investors took in the news that opposition blogger Alexei Navalny had been found guilty in a controversial fraud trial and sentenced to five years in jail. The court in the city of Kirov, about 900 kilometers […]

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RIA Novosti: Convicted Navalny to Drop Moscow Mayor Bid Says Campaign Office

Aerial View of Moscow From Beyond Stadium, file photo

(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, July 18, 2013) ­ Alexei Navalny, the opposition leader and anti-corruption campaigning blogger who was handed a five-year-jail term on Thursday, is to withdraw his candidacy for the upcoming election for Moscow mayor, his campaign office said. Navalny’s campaign office will proceed with canceling his registration for the early Moscow mayoral vote, scheduled for September 8, […]

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Interfax: Presidential Human Rights Council to conduct independent analysis of Navalny case – Fedotov

Mikhail Fedotov file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 18, 2013) The Russian presidential Human Rights Council will conduct an independent public analysis of the criminal case in which a Kirov court sentenced opposition activist Alexei Navalny to five years in prison on Thursday. “I have already talked with a number of Council members. I believe the Council will decide to arrange a public legal […]

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Interfax: Superior court might change Navalny sentence – Russian Federation Council

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 18, 2013) Russian senators said they proposed waiting for a superior court ruling on the case of opposition activist Alexei Navalny, sentenced in Kirov to five years, and that if there was a political component in the trial, then only that Navalny’s violations had been checked in priority. “It is not a fact that superior agencies […]

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Putin Foe Navalny Faces Jail as Investors Fret About Selloff

File Photo of Alexei Navalny Being Grabbed by Police at Protest

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Jason Corcoran & Henry Meyer – July 17, 2013) Alexey Navalny faces possible imprisonment tomorrow in the highest-profile case against a critic of President Vladimir Putin since the prosecution of former oil billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky. A judge in Kirov, 900 kilometers (560 miles) northeast of Moscow, will rule on charges that Navalny defrauded state-owned timber company […]

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Vox Pop: Muscovites On The Navalny Verdict

Alexei Navalny file photo

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – July 17, 2013) RFE/RL correspondent Tom Balmforth asked Moscow residents ahead of the verdict on July 18 what they expected in the embezzlement case against Aleksei Navalny. Here are some of their answers: Igor, 25, transportation sector “I think Navalny will be found guilty. It’s most likely a political case and possibly was initiated to stop […]

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Opposition leader Navalny among six candidates registered to run for Moscow mayor

File Photo of Alexei Navalny Being Grabbed by Police at Protest

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Anna Arutunyan – July 17, 2013) Six candidates will run for mayor of Moscow in the upcoming snap elections on September 8, Valentin Gorbunov, the chairman of the Moscow City Elections Commission, said on Wednesday, when the formal registration of candidates was concluded. Aside from Acting Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, who formally resigned and called the […]

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Rally in support of arrested Yaroslavl mayor brings together 5,000 – organizers

Yevgeny Urlashov file photo

(Interfax – YAROSLAVL, Russia. July 16, 2013) Supporters of the arrested mayor of Yaroslavl, Yevgeny Urlashov, have held a rally in the city on Tuesday. “We estimate that about 5,000 people took part in the rally,” one of the meeting organizers, Andrei Alexeyev, told Interfax. The head of the press service of the Yaroslavl regional police authority, Alexander Shikhanov, told […]

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Urlashov falls victim to politics – Prokhorov

Yevgeny Urlashov file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 16, 2013) Civil Platform leader Mikhail Prokhorov wrote on his Internet blog that he offered birthday congratulations to Yaroslavl Mayor Yevgeny Urlashov, arrested over a bribery case. Prokhorov said that what was happening to Urlashov was politically motivated. “What has happened to you is direct result of our political enemies’ attitude toward you – in other […]

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Navalny to Be Registered for Elections on Eve of KirovLes Verdict, Report Says

File Photo of Alexei Navalny Being Grabbed by Police at Protest

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – July 16, 2013) Opposition leader Alexei Navalny will be registered on Wednesday as a candidate for the Moscow mayoral elections, just one day before the verdict for the KirovLes embezzlement case is scheduled to be delivered, Kommersant reported. The Kremlin critic is awaiting the verdict in a criminal case alleging that he embezzled 16 million […]

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Rights commissioner denounces Magnitsky’s postmortem conviction

Memorial Flowers and Photo of Sergei Magnitsky

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 11, 2013) Russian Human Rights Commissioner Vladimir Lukin has denounced the postmortem conviction of late Hermitage Capital auditor Sergei Magnitsky by Moscow’s Tverskoi Court. “I object to trying people post mortem. There is an element of some ancient pagan mentality in this,” Lukin told Interfax on Thursday. “Then let’s arrange the trial of Ivan the Terrible […]

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Hermitage Capital blasts Magnitsky’s posthumous conviction

Memorial Flowers and Photo of Sergei Magnitsky

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 11, 2013) British investment fund Hermitage Capital has attacked Thursday’s posthumous conviction of its lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and in absentia conviction of its chief executive William Browder. “This trial reflects the authorities’ disrespect for fundamental international legal values and personal rights and freedoms,” Hermitage said in a statement made available to Interfax. Moscow’s Tverskoi Court convicted […]

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Navalny Defiant in Closing Remarks

Alexei Navalny file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – July 8, 2013) Prosecutors on Friday asked a Kirov court to sentence political opposition leader Alexei Navalny to six years in prison and a $30,000 fine on charges of stealing timber from a state-owned company in 2009, but even in the face of such charges Navalny was defiant in closing arguments. Many […]

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Case Against Yaroslavl Mayor Looks Legitimate, Rights Activists Say

Yevgeny Urlashov file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – July 5, 2013) Investigators officially charged Yaroslavl Mayor Yevgeny Urlashov and a group of his subordinates with attempted bribery Thursday as members of the Kremlin human rights council met to discuss the case, which Urlashov’s supporters say they suspect has been fabricated by his political enemies. But members of the council, generally […]

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Twelve Suspects Deny Charges as Bolotnoye Trial Begins

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – June 26, 2013) A Moscow court on Tuesday opened the trial of 12 people suspected of taking part in “riots” and clashing with police at a now-infamous anti-government rally on Bolotnaya Ploshchad last May. More than 400 people were detained at the protest on May 6, 2012, and at least 14 participants […]

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Navalny’s Game

Alexei Navalny file photo

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Brian Whitmore – June 19, 2013) [Video here: rferl.org/content/navalny-game-russia-opposition-moscow-trial/25022010.html] Aleksei Navalny may be on the ropes, but at the same time he’s also on something of a roll. The on-the-ropes part was in full display in Kirov on June 18 when Judge Sergei Blinov flat-out refused to allow Navalny to call any defense witnesses in his […]

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Russian Court Refuses To Hear Defence Witnesses In Navalnyy’s Embezzlement Trial

File Photo of Alexei Navalny Being Grabbed by Police at Protest

(RIA Novosti – Kirov, June 18, 2013) Judge Sergey Blinov refused on Tuesday (18 June) the request of the defence that 13 witnesses, including an auditor and several experts, be summoned to court in at the Kirovles (Kirov Timber) trial, a RIA Novosti correspondent has reported from Kirov’s Leninskiy court. On Monday, defence lawyer Svetlana Davydova submitted a request for […]

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RIA Novosti: Russian Opposition Figure Charged with Plotting Mass Riots

Leonid Razvozzhayev file photo with hand to ear, as if holding cellphone

(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 19, 2013) Russian prosecutors have charged opposition activist Leonid Razvozzhayev with plotting mass riots during a demonstration in Moscow last May, his lawyer Dmitry Agranovsky told RAPSI on Wednesday. Razvozzhayev, who had previously been accused by investigators of attempting mass disturbances, has been now formally charged with having organized riots, followed by violence, property destruction, […]

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Navalny says his brother’s home searched by detectives

File Photo of Alexei Navalny Being Grabbed by Police at Protest

(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 17, 2013) Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny, founder of Anti-Corruption Foundation, wrote on Twitter on Monday that detectives were currently searching his brother’s apartment. Interfax has been unable to obtain confirmation of Navalny’s words. In December, brothers Alexei and Oleg Navalny were charged with fraud and money laundering. “Alexei Navalny set up a limited liability company […]

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Navalny Defiant in KirovLes Testimony

File Photo of Alexei Navalny Being Grabbed by Police at Protest

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – June 18, 2013) Opposition leader Alexei Navalny took the stand in court on Monday, denying charges that he stole 10,000 cubic meters of timber from KirovLes in 2009 and saying he had tried to fight corruption at the state-owned company. Navalny, who is also a prominent anti-corruption blogger and a lawyer, began […]

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Navalny says authorities want to block his mayoral nomination

File Photo of Alexei Navalny Being Grabbed by Police at Protest

(Interfax – June 13, 2013) Opposition activist Alexei Navalny believes that the Kirov Court hearings on the Kirovles case scheduled by the court for June 13 and 14 are aimed at blocking his nomination for Moscow mayor, said his lawyer Sergei Kobelev. The lawyer said that his client Navalny had notified him that he was supposed to attend a meeting […]

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Russian prominent economist Guriyev does not want to be political refugee in France

Sergei Guriev file photo

(Interfax – June 11, 2013) Former head of the New Economic School (NES) Sergei Guriyev said that the reasons due to which he left Russia were personal and he did not intend to get the political refugee status in France. “I am not a political emigrant. I simply do not want to live in Russia. I repeat once again: [Russian […]

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Navalny Tries to Boot Judge From KirovLes Trial

File Photo of Alexei Navalny Being Grabbed by Police at Protest

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – June 11, 2013) The trial against opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his business partner Pyotr Ofitserov on embezzlement charges entered its 12th day on Monday, with the defense demanding that the judge in the case recuse himself for allegedly creating unequal conditions for the defense and prosecution. The judge, Sergei Blinov, of […]

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Russian official accuses rights activists of sowing destructive ideas

Vladimir Markin file photo

(Interfax – June 10, 2013) Official spokesman for the Russian Investigations Committee Vladimir Markin has said that human rights activists do not always take an objective stance on some criminal cases and sometimes come up with ideas which are destructive for law and order, privately-owned Interfax news agency reported on 10 June. “Alas, numerous social commentators and human rights activists […]

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Navalny Judge Digs in Heels Again

File Photo of Alexei Navalny Being Grabbed by Police at Protest

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – June 10, 2013) The KirovLes trial judge Sergei Blinov has once again rejected motions for his removal by Alexei Navalny’s defense team who complained about procedural violations and case prejudice, a new reports said Monday. “The court has taken the decision to reject the defense’s request to remove the presiding judge,” Blinov announced, adding that […]

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Court Extends Detentions as Bolotnoye Trial Begins

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Moscow TImes – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – June 7, 2013) The trial against 12 people charged with violence against police and participation in alleged mass riots in the so-called Bolotnoye case ­ a case observers say is one of the largest politically motivated trials in recent history ­ opened at the Zamoskvoretsky District Court on Thursday. More than 400 […]

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

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

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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Guriev Exit Renews Brain Drain Fears

Sergei Guriev file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jonathan Earle – May 31, 2013) Reports that prominent, liberal economist Sergei Guriev has fled to France under pressure from investigators appeared to send shockwaves through Russia’s Western-leaning elite this week, renewing fears of a brain drain amid an “invisible” wave of emigration. The departure of Guriev, a prominent economist who has advised Prime Minister […]

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Kremlin Human Rights Council justifies Yukos case experts questioned by investigators [re: Guriev]

Mikhail Fedotov file photo

(Interfax – May 30, 2013) Russian economist Sergei Guriyev and other experts invited to prepare a conclusion on the Yukos case for the Presidential Human Rights Council did not do anything illegal, the council’s head Mikhail Fedotov told Interfax. “I do not see anything unlawful in the work done by Guriyev and the other experts invited by us to conduct […]

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

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

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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Amnesty Report Slams ‘Repressive Legislation’

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

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – May 23, 2013) Amnesty International said Vladimir Putin’s return to the Kremlin was marked by large-scale attacks on freedom of assembly and of expression, resulting in a large number of politically motivated criminal cases and repressive legislation. “Two new laws and 11 amendments to current legislation were made last year amid broadly weakened dissent,” head […]

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Navalny Defense Aided by Kirov Governor Testimony

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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Witness in Navalny Trial Backs Prosecutors’ Allegations

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

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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Titov Wants to Free 100,000 Jailed Entrepreneurs

Boris Titov file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – May 8, 2013) An initiative by business ombudsman Boris Titov to free more than 100,000 entrepreneurs serving prison sentences for white-collar crimes will be submitted to the State Duma next week, Kommersant reported Wednesday. Titov warned that many people were likely to oppose the idea, but he acknowledged that without such a measure it would […]

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Prosecutor General Chaika: Civil society’s interference in justice system’s work is unacceptable

Yury Chaika file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, April 27, 2013) Russian Prosecutor General Yury Chaika sees as unacceptable civil society’s pressure on the justice system. “Everyone should mind their own business. When a civil society institution reviews a court ruling, in my opinion, this is just unacceptable,” Chaika said taking questions from Federation Council members on Saturday. “There is nothing unusual in the fact […]

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Navalny’s Request For Further Trial Delay Rejected

Alexei Navalny file photo

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – April 23, 2013) KIROV, Russia — A court in Russia’s Kirov Oblast has rejected a request from anticorruption blogger Aleksei Navalny for a further delay in his trial. Navalny had asked for more time for his lawyers to examine the 28 volumes of documents associated with his case. Navalny is accused of being involved in the […]

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Apathy in evidence as Russia opposition activist Navalny goes on trial

Alexei Navalny file photo

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Julia Reed in Moscow – April 17, 2013) “A case against Navalny is a case against all of us,” insist the friends and supporters of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is due to go on trial for corruption in the regional city of Kirov on April 17. Unfortunately, many other Russians appear not to […]

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Case Against Russia’s ‘Bolotnaya’ Protesters Gathers Steam

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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