Category: Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime

Maria Butina’s New Job? Maybe Advocating For Other Russians Held In U.S. Prisons

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Stylized Russian and U.S. Flags, 200, 1807-2007

(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Mike Eckel – Nov. 19, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/maria-butina-s-new-job-russians-u-s-prisons/30281107.html) During and after the 15-month prison sentence she served after admitting to working as an unregistered foreign agent, Maria Butina complained about both her sentence — “this is absolutely absurd” — and her treatment in […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Russia’s Domestic Violence Problem Is ‘Exaggerated,’ Justice Ministry Says” – Moscow Times

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photos of Law Books and Gavel, adapted from image at fjc.gov

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Nov. 19, 2019) The Russian government doesn’t see domestic violence as a “serious problem” and believes that its scale is exaggerated, the country’s Justice Ministry said in an official response to Europe’s human rights court obtained by the Kommersant business daily. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) this summer had asked Russia to respond […]

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RUSSIALINK: “‘Where Is Our Land?’: Challenges for Indigenous Groups in the Russian Arctic” – Kennan Institute/ Arbakhan K. Magomedov

Arctic, Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Population Disaster, Demographics, Race, Ethnic, Extremism, Xenophobia, Regions, Cities, Municipalities
Map of Arctic Highlighting Permafrost, adapted from image at nasa.gov

(Kennan Institute – wilsoncenter.org/program/kennan-institute – Arbakhan Magomedov – Nov. 14, 2019) Arbakhan Magomedov is visiting professor at the Russian State University for the Humanities. (RSUH). His fieldwork in the Far North was done as part of the project “Rising Voices of Northern Indigenous People in the Context of Growing Pressure of Russian Nationalism,” for which he received financial support through […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Putin urges Interior Ministry employees to thwart toughly any attempts to split Russian society” – Interfax

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Military, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and River

MOSCOW. Nov 10 (Interfax) – Employees of the Russian Interior Ministry must counter resolutely the corruption and other crimes, fight strongly terrorism and extremism, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a festive concert on the occasion of the Day of the Employee of the Russian Internal Affairs Bodies on Sunday. “Today, the bodies of internal affairs, each of their employees […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Supreme Court decision on movement For Human Rights shows authorities are not ready for criticism, compromise – HRW” – Interfax

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photos of Law Books and Gavel, adapted from image at fjc.gov

MOSCOW. Nov 1 (Interfax) – The Russian Supreme Court’s decision on the liquidation of the movement For Human Rights led by Lev Ponomaryov indicates the flaws of the Russian judicial system and the position of the Russian authorities, which are not ready to take criticism and achieve compromises, Tanya Lokshina, associate director for Human Rights Watch’s Europe and Central Asia […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Thirty-four Russians subjected to administrative liability for insulting state symbols – Prosecutor General’s Office” – Interfax

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Image of Laptop Computer, Tables and Mobile Device, adapted from image at energy.gov

MOSCOW. Oct 24 (Interfax) – Courts have found 34 Russians guilty of administrative violations for insulting state symbols, Russian Prosecutor General’s Office spokesman Alexander Kurennoi said. “The police made 56 protocols of administrative violations over a period of nine months. Courts found 34 people guilty, 13 cases were closed, nine cases are pending trial,” Kurennoi said on the video channel […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Corruption ‘serious problem’ for 81 per cent of Russians – poll” – Interfax

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime
File Photo of Two Persons Shaking Hands and Exchanging Cash

(Interfax – October 22, 2019) Eighty-one per cent of Russians regard corruption as a “serious problem”, though only 11 per cent claim they see progress being made to combat it, a survey compiled by the Prosecutor General’s Office indicated. “Participants in the survey evaluated the level of corruption in the field of state and municipal property at 78 per cent, […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Hunter Biden’s web of interests; His ties span the globe and raise questions about the overlap of business and politics” – Financial Times/ Aime Williams, Sun Yu, Roman Olearchyk

China, Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, JRL NewsBlog, Oil, Gas, Energy, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

“Hunter Biden’s business interests often show up in unexpected places … Now [they are] … at the centre of … the fourth impeachment inquiry in U.S. history. … under scrutiny after … Trump leaned on the president of Ukraine to investigate …. Trump has also publicly called on China to investigate the Bidens. The Ukraine revelations have led House Democrats […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Almost 40% of Russians Call Moscow Protest Convictions ‘Politically Motivated’ – Poll” – Moscow Times/ Levada Center

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photos of Law Books and Gavel, adapted from image at fjc.gov

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Oct. 9, 2019) Nearly 40% of Russians believe that the recent criminal convictions of more than a dozen people over this summer’s Moscow protests were politically motivated, according to new independent polling. The Sept. 8 local and regional elections were among the most remembered events of the past month, according to the independent Levada Center […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s Justice Ministry blacklists Alexey Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation as a ‘foreign agent'” – Meduza

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Alexei Navalny Marching on Street with Others in Background; adapted from image at commons.wikimedia.org with credit to Evgeny Feldman, subject to Creative Commons license; original image at commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FEV_1795_(cropped1).jpg, with license information at creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en and creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode

“Russia’s Justice Ministry has added Alexey Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) to its list of so-called ‘foreign agents.’ … [stating] that an audit in Moscow has determined that Navalny’s nonprofit organization ‘performs the functions of a foreign agent.’ [https://minjust.ru/ru/novosti/nekommercheskaya-organizaciya-fond-borby-s-korrupciey-vklyuchena-v-reestr-nekommercheskih] In a tweet, FBK Director Ivan Zhdanov said the organization is ‘funded exclusively by citizens of the Russian Federation,’ and maintained that […]

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RUSSIALINK: “St. Petersburg court releases opposition activist Ivankin arrested for protest action in cemetery” – Interfax

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photos of Law Books and Gavel, adapted from image at fjc.gov

ST. PETERSBURG. Sept 26 (Interfax) – St. Petersburg’s Vasileostrovsky District Court on Wednesday dismissed the coroner’s motion and released member of the opposition movement Agit Rossiya Pavel Ivankin, whom police suspected of desecrating graves while staging protest action in a cemetery. Ivankin was released in courtroom, an Interfax correspondent reported. In releasing him, the judge cited shortage of evidence presented […]

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RUSSIALINK: “United Russia Officials Meddled in St. Petersburg Vote, Top Election Official Says; Ella Pamfilova said members of the ruling party had ‘directly intervened in the electoral process.'” – Moscow Times

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
St. Petersburg

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Daniel Kozin – September 25, 2019) Top members of the ruling United Russia party in St. Petersburg meddled in the city’s municipal elections earlier this month, Central Election Commission Head Ella Pamfilova said Wednesday. Observers noted widespread violations during the Sept. 8 elections, including lengthy delays in the official count, intimidation and recounts. According to […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Situation with actor Ustinov case developing within framework of law – Peskov” – Interfax

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television
Dmitry Peskov file photo adapted from image at kremlin.ru/wikimedia commons

MOSCOW. Sept 19 (Interfax) – The situation with actor Pavel Ustinov, who was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for attacking a Russian Guardsman, is developing within the framework of law, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said. Responding to a question from journalists as to whether Russian President Vladimir Putin has become familiar with filmmaker Andrei Zvyagintsev’s address to […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Domestic Violence Affects 1 in 3 Russians, Poll Says” – Moscow Times

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Women
Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – September 13, 2019) Nearly one-third of Russia’s population has come face-to-face with domestic violence in their own families or among acquaintances, according to an independent survey published Friday. Russia decriminalized certain forms of domestic violence in 2017, a decision that top lawmakers have said was a mistake two years later. Activists say the absence of […]

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VIDEO & ARTICLE: A Blow To Fair Elections: Russian Police Stand Idly By As Election Observer Is Sucker Punched

Assassinations, Beatings, Threats, Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Screenshot of Video at https://twitter.com/CurrentTimeTv/status/1171888101989539842 showing man punching another man in the stomach at Russian polling place while second man was looking down at mobile device

(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Todd Prince – Sept. 12, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/russian-police-stand-idly-by-as-election-observer-sucker-punched/30160427.html) [click here to jump down to video] Based on the reaction of police and election officials inside St. Petersburg polling station 1619, the event that unfolded before them on election day last week was nothing […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia Turns Trampled Grass Into Weapon Against Opponents” – Bloomberg/ Jake Rudnitsky, Ilya Arkhipov

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, JRL NewsBlog, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Regions, Cities, Municipalities
File Photos of Law Books and Gavel, adapted from image at fjc.gov

“A state-owned organization responsible for maintaining Moscow’s roads is seeking compensation from protest leaders for grass trampled during a recent unsanctioned protest, part of a multi-pronged assault on the opposition …. [A]uthorities raided at least 39 offices in Navalny’s political network [across the country], seeking evidence for a money laundering investigation … against his Anti-Corruption Foundation, his ally Leonid Volkov […]

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RUSSIALINK NEWSWATCH: “Hand It Over: Court Awards Moscow City Transport 1.2 Million Rubles in Suit Against Opposition Politicians” – Kommersant/ Maria Litvinova

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, JRL NewsBlog, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photos of Law Books and Gavel, adapted from image at fjc.gov

“Alexei Navalny, Lyubov Sobol, Ivan Zhdanov, Yulia Galyamina, Ilya Yashin, Alexander Solovyov, Oleg Stepanov, and Vladimir Milov must jointly pay Moscow City Transport (Mosgortrans) 1.2 million rubles [approx. $18,000] for … traffic stoppages during the ‘unauthorized’ protest rally on July 27 in Moscow. … [according to a] ruling … by the Koptevo District Court on [a] lawsuit brought by Moscow […]

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A New Hope? Five Takeaways From The Elections In Moscow And Elsewhere

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

(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Mike Eckel – Sept. 9, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/five-takeaways-moscow-elections-russia/30155264.html) The opposition is up. The ruling party is down. Incumbent governors are in. The Kremlin is worried. Aleksei Navalny’s Smart Voting strategy is … smart? Despite Russian elections still being largely a stage-managed process, the […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russian Opposition Puts Putin Under Pressure in Moscow Election; The opposition alliance didn’t fare well elsewhere in Russia, but its leaders hail Moscow showing as a success” – Wall Street Journal/ Georgi Kantchev

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, JRL NewsBlog, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Aerial View of Kremlin and Environs

“Candidates backed by Russia’s opposition won nearly half the seats up for grabs in Moscow’s city elections … building on a wave of protests … that exposed some of the frailties … in Putin ‘s closely controlled political machine, but failed to make significant inroads in local races elsewhere …. Sunday’s vote came after a tumultuous summer that saw a […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “A Summer of Unprecedented Brutality in Moscow” – The New Yorker/ Masha Gessen

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, JRL NewsBlog, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Aerial View of Kremlin and Environs

“… Moscow [recently] has seen an unprecedented number of large, confrontational protests … met with unprecedented brutality …. [While] the Kremlin has been cracking down on dissent for seven years … arrests continue to multiply, prison terms grow longer … brutality becomes more brutal. Once in a while, the cruelty … comes into sharper focus. … prosecutors tried to strip […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russians go to polls after summer of protests” – AFP

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, JRL NewsBlog, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Arm and Torso of Person in Brown Sweater Placing Paper Ballot into Ballot Box

“[… A] hugely controversial campaign in Moscow that degenerated into the biggest police crackdown on protesters in nearly a decade. … [Local election] results … will be keenly watched ahead of [2021] parliamentary elections … and help shape Russia’s political future as … Putin’s regime enters [its] third decade …. [T]ens of thousands have taken part in Moscow protests demanding […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s Opposition, Barred From Moscow Vote, Looks Elsewhere for Gains; Putin’s opponents hope a wave of dissent will carry them past a crackdown and their own discord” – Wall Street Journal/ Thomas Grove, Ann M. Simmons

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, JRL NewsBlog, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Regions, Cities, Municipalities
Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

“Targeted by police … barred from the ballot in Moscow’s city elections, Russia’s opposition is trying to gain a political foothold in other municipal races … as it rides a rising wave of dissent against … Putin. But to convert a surge in support into a coherent political challenge to … Putin, opposition leaders must first overcome a crackdown against […]

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Proposed Law Would Help Russians Hold Siloviki Accountable

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Moscow Protest with Riot Police

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, August 24, 2019) Many Russians believe that the anonymity policemen and Russian Guards feel in the uniforms they wear when moving against protesters gives the siloviki the feeling that no one will be able to identify the individual officers responsible and hold them accountable. Indeed, they suspect that is one of the […]

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Court Reinstates Navalny Team Leader In St. Petersburg To Municipal Vote Ballot

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Arm and Torso of Person in Brown Sweater Placing Paper Ballot into Ballot Box

(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Aug. 26, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/court-reinstates-navalny-team-leader-in-st-petersburg-to-municipal-vote-ballot/30129706.html) Aleksandr Shurshev, the head of the local chapter of Aleksei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, has been reinstated on the list of registered candidates for upcoming municipal elections. In an August 26 appeal hearing, the St. Petersburg city court ruled […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Russia to decide on Magnitsky family’s compensation within 3 months – Justice Ministry” – Interfax

Assassinations, Beatings, Threats, Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Europe, EU, Human Rights
European Court of Human Rights Building file photo

MOSCOW. Aug 27 (Interfax) – The Russian Justice Ministry is studying the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)’s judgment granting 34,000 euros in compensation to the family of Hermitage Capital auditor Sergei Magnitsky; a decision on appealing this judgement will be made within three months. “The judgment has yet to take effect, therefore, the Russian Justice Ministry will decide on […]

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Protest technologies: can innovation change the balance of power in Russia? Russian civil society is becoming more effective with the help of technology. But how far does the solidarity created online go?

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Science, Technology, Engineering, Spies, Spy Allegations
File Image of Laptop Computer, Tables and Mobile Device, adapted from image at energy.gov

(Opendemocracy.net – Gregory Asmolov – August 23, 2019) Gregory Asmolov is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at King’s College London’s Russia Institute. He researches the role of information technology in crisis situations. Crisis situations, whether natural disasters, armed conflicts or political protests are often accompanied by a cycle of technical innovation. And if it’s a question of political conflict, each […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “More than 600 Russian scholars worldwide demand end to ‘rioting’ case against Moscow protesters” – Meduza

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, JRL NewsBlog, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photos of Law Books and Gavel, adapted from image at fjc.gov

“Russian scholars … in a range of countries … Russia included, have published a statement demanding that charges of mass rioting against Moscow election protesters be dropped. … ‘We demand that those who currently direct [Russia’s] governing apparatus cease their abuses of power, stop their political repressions, and begin adhering rigorously to the Constitution of the Russian Federation.’ … signatories […]

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Mission: Impossible? Ukraine’s New President Ventures To Reform Powerful State Spy Agency [Excerpt]

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Spies, Spy Allegations, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
File Photo of Zelenskiy Extending Handshake, adapted from image at a subdomain of senate.gov

(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Christopher Miller – KYIV, Aug. 17, 2019 – full article text appeared at rferl.org/a/ukraine-zelenskiy-reform-state-spy-agency-sbu-/30114589.html) When Ukraine’s domestic security service revealed last year that it had faked the death of a dissident Russian journalist to expose a team of hit men allegedly hired by Moscow to destabilize the country […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “For Russia’s detained protesters, rights group is first on scene [Re: OVD-Indo]” – AFP

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, JRL NewsBlog, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photos of Law Books and Gavel, adapted from image at fjc.gov

“What started as a Facebook post during a wave of mass protests in Russia eight years ago has turned into a rights group that helps arrested demonstrators … in increasing demand as police crack down hard on opposition rallies. OVD-Info, which has around 27 staff, more than 300 volunteers and a small office in Moscow, is the first port of […]

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RUSSIALINK: “A Student Arrest Puts Elite Moscow University to the Test” – Moscow Times

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

The Higher School of Economics, a bastion of free thinking since the 1990s, has become caught up in the opposition protest movement. (Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Pjotr Sauer – August 16, 2019) A chill ran down Artyom Tyurin’s spine when he heard the news that his friend and fellow student Yegor Zhukov had been hauled from his bed in […]

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‘Bums, Freaks, And Gypsies’: How Pro-Kremlin Media Depict The Moscow Protesters

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Aerial View of Kremlin and Environs

(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Todd Prince – Aug. 14, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/how-pro-kremlin-media-depicts-the-moscow-protesters/30109908.html) More than 50,000 people joined a rally for fair elections in Moscow on August 10, biting back concerns about arrests and police beatings to show up for what turned out to be the largest anti-government […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Bolotnaya riot case defendant arrested for 13 days for profane language from stage at Aug. 10 rally” – Interfax

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and River

MOSCOW. Aug 12 (Interfax) – Moscow’s Meschansky District Court on Monday found activist Alexei Polikhovich guilty of petty hooliganism at the August 10 opposition rally on Sakharov Avenue in Moscow. “The court found Polikhovich guilty of committing an administrative offense defined in Article 20.1 of the Russian Administrative Offense Code and penalized him with 13 days of administrative arrest,” the […]

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Teflon Putin? Over 20 Years In Power, Scandals Don’t Seem To Stick To The Russian President

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, History, Soviet Union, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Putin Descending a Staircase

(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Tony Wesolowsky and Robert Coalson – August 8, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/putin-20-years-power-corruption-scandals/30100279.html) Vladimir Putin was not well known when President Boris Yeltsin picked him as prime minister on August 9, 1999, a key point in his meteoric rise to power. But years earlier, back […]

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RUSSIALINK: “What to Expect From Moscow Protests This Saturday” – Moscow Times

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Regions, Cities, Municipalities
Aerial View of Kremlin and Environs

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – August 8, 2019) Moscow’s opposition plans to press ahead with more protests this Saturday even after election officials closed all avenues for several Kremlin critics to run for office in the Russian capital next month. The ongoing standoff between Russia’s opposition and its leadership that has taken place in recent weeks has drawn international attention […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s Levada and VTsIOM polls dramatically disagree on sentiment over the Moscow protests” – bne Intellinews/ Ben Aris

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and River

“… results of a poll by independent pollster the Levada Center violently disagreed with a poll by the state-owned pollster, the Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VTsIOM), on the reaction to the weekend protests over the upcoming city council elections. Levada found that 37% of Muscovite supported the protests, 27% viewed them negatively and 30% were neutral. … a VTsIOM […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Some thoughts on the security side of Saturday’s Moscow crackdown” – In Moscow’s Shadows/ Mark Galeotti

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, JRL NewsBlog, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Aerial View of Kremlin and Environs

“… 1. There seems to have been something of a split between the police and the National Guard. …  2. … gas and guns were absent. … an entirely old school shield-and-baton operation …. [without] even … armed snatch squads … behind the lines as backup, suggesting [authorities] knew … they weren’t going to face serious trouble …. 3. Who […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Russia Could Re-Criminalize Domestic Violence After European Court Ruling, Senator Says” – Moscow Times

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Europe, EU, Women
European Court of Human Rights Building file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – July 31, 2019) Russia could make domestic violence a crime two years after lawmakers decriminalized some forms of domestic abuse, a top senator has said after a ruling by Europe’s top human rights court put a spotlight on the issue. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) this month ruled for the first time that […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Moscow police press secretary fined for photos of drug lab that police passed off as photos from Ivan Golunov’s apartment” – Meduza/ RBC

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Drugs, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Internet Archive Screenshot of мвд.рф webpage

“Yury Titov … [head of] the press service for … [the] Russian Internal Affairs Ministry [Moscow branch], has been disciplined in connection with the case against Meduza correspondent Ivan Golunov, RBC reported.  Titov and the press service … have not yet commented on the disciplinary actions … Alexander Khaminsky … former advisor for the Moscow police … submitted a[ related] […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “The evictors For the past five years, loan sharks have forced more than 500 Muscovites from their homes. Here’s how the industry works.” – Meduza

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
Hand Pulling Cash from Envelope

“In Moscow and [environs] … ‘black creditors’ – microfinance institutions (MFOs) … deceive [debtors] and seize … homes. Meduza … [found ] almost 500 apartments lost … over the past five years without so much as a court order. … more than simply ‘squeezing’ people from their homes … possibly part of a wider, international money-laundering system. * * * […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Some ‘aspects’ of Russian Constitution could be adjusted – Matviyenko” – Interfax

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and River

MOSCOW. July 25 (Interfax) – The basic provisions of the Russian Constitution do not require any radical amendments; however, some minor adjustments are possible, Russian Federation Council Chairperson Valentina Matviyenko said. “I have always believed and do believe that the basic provisions of our constitution do not require any radical amendments. We’ve achieved a balance and separation of powers. That […]

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RUSSIALINK: “‘A Pre-Revolutionary Situation’: More Than 20,000 Rally in Moscow for Free Elections” – Moscow Times

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Arm and Torso of Person in Brown Sweater Placing Paper Ballot into Ballot Box

Russia’s largest protest in years came after a week of demonstrations against the barring of opposition candidates from city council elections. (Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Evan Gershkovich – July 20, 2019) Russian opposition leaders on Saturday led a protest in Moscow against the election commission’s decision to bar a host of candidates from the ballot for city council elections […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “It’s been more than a month since Ivan Golunov was framed, charged, and released. What’s happened to his story since?” – Meduza

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, JRL NewsBlog, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Spies, Spy Allegations
FSB Building file photo

“… thirty leading Russian and international news outlets … published the report Ivan Golunov was working on … before his arrest. Journalists from seven Russian media sources had already begun working to complete the report …. Golunov’s exposé … shed light on corruption and FSB ties in the Moscow funeral industry. … [and] includes allegations of misconduct committed by intelligence […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Kremlin distances itself from Moscow election controversy” – Interfax

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

(Interfax – July 16, 2019) The Kremlin has distanced itself from the controversy surrounding the registration of candidates in September’s Moscow city council election. “Broadly speaking, this is a matter for the electoral commission, and here the Kremlin simply has neither the authority nor any intention to intervene in this situation,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on 16 […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Adjustments to Russian Constitution have to be pinpointed – Volodin” – Interfax

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

MOSCOW. July 17 (Interfax) – The basic values envisaged by the Constitution should stay unchanged and amendments should help realize them in life, Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said. “No doubt, we are not talking about changing and revising the basic provisions of the Constitution. They are unshakeable. On the contrary, we need to speak about how to realize […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Russian Cop Jailed for Ignoring Murdered Domestic Violence Victim’s Pleas” – Moscow Times

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Regions, Cities, Municipalities
Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – July 12, 2019) A Russian police officer has been convicted of negligence after telling a domestic violence victim to “come back when you’re dead” minutes before she was murdered. Police inspector Natalya Bashkatova received a domestic abuse call in the city of Oryol in late 2016 but refused to investigate the victim’s claims, telling her, […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Review: The Struggle of Russia’s crony capitalists” [re: Anders Aslund new book]” – Reuters/ Dasha Afanasieva

Books, New Books, Book Releases, Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, JRL NewsBlog, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

“… Anders Aslund … in ‘Russia’s Crony Capitalism: The Path from Market Economy to Kleptocracy‘ … [casts Putin] as a patriarchal overlord … handsomely reward[ing] those loyal …. creat[ing] a new elite of friends, former co-workers and relatives. What’s less clear is what, if anything [can be done about it]. … [A]naly[zing] the last 15 or so years of Putin’s […]

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Crime, Torture and Punishment in a Moscow Suburb; Viktor Lukyan, sentenced to six years for murder, had little chance of a fair trial under a system that presumes defendants are guilty

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Evan Gershkovich – July 9, 2019) [themoscowtimes.com/2019/07/09/crime-torture-and-punishment-in-a-moscow-suburb-a66314] Lukyan in a Domodedovo courtroom cage in February. He spent more a year in pre-trial detention. Evan Gershkovich / MT On a Wednesday morning late last May in Barybino, a drab town in the Moscow suburbs, a passerby spotted a body wrapped in black garbage bags floating in […]

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Dirty Tricks: Navalny Aide’s Bid For Moscow Duma Seat Brings Out The Worst

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and Saint Basil's File Photo

(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Dmitry Volchek, Robert Coalson – June 26, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/dirty-tricks-navalny-aide-bid-for-moscow-duma-seat-brings-out-the-worst/30022120.html) On the face of it, the task ahead of 31-year-old lawyer Lyubov Sobol seems simple enough. To qualify as a candidate for the September 8 Moscow City Duma elections, Sobol just needs to […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Law on insulting state symbols doesn’t need adjustment – Peskov” – Interfax

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Dmitry Peskov file photo adapted from image at kremlin.ru/wikimedia commons

MOSCOW. June 27 (Interfax) – The law on insulting state symbols does not need any adjustment, but law enforcement practice needs control to prevent irregularities; in particular, those associated with restrictions on the criticism of authorities, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Journalists mentioned during a conversation with Peskov on Thursday that the president had said during his recent Q&A session […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s Resilient Legal Powerhouse: The Procuracy Enters the 21st Century” – Kennan Institute/ William E. Pomeranz

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Satellite Dishes

“On March 18, 2019, President Vladimir Putin signed into law two new restrictions on freedom of speech. One law levied administrative fines on so-called ‘fake news’ while the other imposed penalties for information deemed insulting to human dignity, public morality, or otherwise expressing disrespect to state symbols and institutions.[1] The above laws lacked precise standards, thereby requiring interpretation. What was […]

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