Winds of change or just another media show?

On 29 January, 2009, Dmitry Medvedev held two meetings.

The first occurred in the headquarters of the FSB in Lubyanka Square. According to the Vzgljad portal , all the key people responsible for the force agencies: Naryshkin, the head of the president’s administration, Lebedev, the chair of the Supreme Court, Chayka, the Prosecutor Peneral, Patrushev, the head of the Security Council, Ministers of Justice, Interior, and Defense.

Medvedev started the meeting with the force block people with promises to increase their financing. He stated the necessity to take preventive measures to resist separatist tendencies, ethnic and religious intolerance. He also recommended to increase cooperation with countries of the Latin America and BRIK (Brazil-Russia-India-China) as well as to enhance anti-terrorist cooperation in the context of the Collective Security Treaty Organization and Shanghai Cooperation Organization in the sphere of joint trainings and information exchange. President Medvedev also recommended developing closer cooperation with the institutes of the civil society.

Right after this meeting President Medvedev met with Dmitry Muratov, the chief editor of the Novaja Gazeta newspaper, and Mikhail Gorbachov, the former USSR president. Thus, he seems to be trying to follow his own recommendation “to establish relations with the civil society”. Muratov gave an account of that meeting in his interview to the Echo of Moscow radio station He broke the silence of the heads of the state on the never-ending horror story with politically-motivated killings in Russia, trying to justify his silence on the deaths of Stanislaw Markelov and Anastasia Baburova. Having expressed his sarcasm about his “Ukrainian colleague PR made on blood”, Medvedev stated that he was trying to restrain from giving some indirect directive to the investigation bodies which direction to take. He also assured the civil society of Russia that he had not given any orders “to finish democrats off” referring Dmitry Muratov’s remark that “the only alternative to fascism is democracy whereas there are forces which are trying to cleanse out a few remaining democrats in the information”.

What is the meaning of these two meetings that happened the same day, with really short interval between them? And in absence of the Prime Minister Vladimir Putin who is trying to tune the discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Is it another attempt to divert the attention from Russia by alluring the society with nice words or a real sign of change? And whether Mr. Putin is following the line.

It will be interesting to see whether the meeting with Dmitry Muratov and Mikhail Gorbachov showed some intention to change in the attitude of Kremlin. But everybody should be charged by their deeds, not words. And from words to deeds there's a long way to go for Russia.

First occasion to show that first step has been taken is 31st of January, which has been fixed as the Protest Day by several opposition forces, including the Other Russia coalition. The way how the authorities would react to the protest would be indicative of the real intentions of the power.

Everyone should be charged by their deeds, not words. The truth will be revealed very soon. January 31 has been fixed as the Protest Day by several opposition forces, including the Other Russia coalition. The way how the authorities would react to the protest would be indicative of the real intentions of the power. Meanwhile, there are facts which speak for themselves.

29 January

Tyumen town:

According to the “Institute of Collective Actions” and www.hro.org portal, servicemen of the Center to counteract extremism have detained two political activists, Andrej Kutuzov, a University teacher, candidate of philosophy, who runs the independent portal www.golosa.info (as of now, there is no access to the webpage), and Rustam Fakhretdinov, a journalist with the “Vecherniy Tyumen” newspaper . Searches were held in their flats. The police confiscated computers, banners with slogans calling on defending rights and freedoms, literature, including fiction. Rustam Fakhretdinov is accused under Article 214 part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“vandalism”). Andrej Kutuzuv is facing a lot serious charges under Article 280 of the Criminal Code (“public call to extremism”) Friends and colleagues of the arrested activists are searching for financial help to pay lawyers’ fee, according to the information obtained from Ekaterinburg-based Movement against Violence.

Saint Petersburg:

In the morning of January 29 , three activists with NBP entered the reception office of Vladimir Putin situated at 1 Konnogvardejskiy Boulevard and stated they would not leave it until Putin met them. They also disseminated fliers containing anti-crisis proposals. According to pressman of the NBP Alexander Averin, nazbols demanded a meeting with Putin "to discuss lack of any reaction from the authorities to the recent cases of politically motivated murders of lawyer Stanislaw Markelov, journalist Anastasia Baburova and nazbol Anton Stradymov. Three people, Ravil Bashirov, Sergey Grebnjov and Evgenij Markin, were detained and charged with hooliganism . The court worked through the night. All the three people were sentenced to five days in custody. The sentence on Ravil Bashirov was made at 4.30 am. Evgeniy Markin got his verdict at 8 am only .

Moscow:

On 29 January, at 15.00, a group of Youth Jabloko party held a rally against politically motivated killings in Russia. The action was held at the headquarters of the FSB in Lubjanka Square. Police detained 13 people, including five activists of the Yabloko party, pressman of the Yabloko Igor Jakovlev, 5 journalists and 2 passers-by. Then the police also detained Sergey Mitrokhin, the leader of the Yabloko party for holding a one-man picket. According to kasparov.ru portal, he was interrogated by the FSB the same day . There is information that the action coincided with the visit of Dmitry Medvedev to the FSB headquarters where he participated in the meeting.

28-29 January

Nijny Novgorod:

According to the information of the hroniki.info portal and novayagazeta.ru , on 28 January, the police and UBOP (special detachment to combat organized crime) held unmotivated detentions activists of the Other Russia coalition. The press service of the police department of Nizhny Novgorod Region denied the fact of their detention for several hours.

However they were accused of putting up resistance to the police and taken to court. Being asked what kind of resistance it was, the police servicemen claimed that all the young people refused to produce their documents. Right now court session is going in magistrate court of Kanavinskiy district of Nizjny Novgorod. Three of them who reached the age, were sentenced to five days of administrative custody.

The whereabouts of Yury Staroverov were established only in the morning of January 29. The day before he was stopped by the UBOP (special detachment to combat organized crime) right on the stairs of the Novaja Gazeta office and detained.

Thanks to public pressure developed on the day when Staroverov went missing, the police revealed information about his detention in a day. In the morning he was taken to court. The report on his alleged misbehavior was developed by Alexey Trifonov, one of the chief UBOP officers. The report claimed that Staroverov was "standing on the stairs and cursing"... Stanislaw Dmitriesvkiy, the chair of the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society and Zahar Prilepin, the Novaja Gazeta in NN editor, witnessed for his defense. Although the prosecution lacked any evidence; Staroverov was sentenced to five days of administrative custody. He announced in the court room that he was going on a hunger strike.
Moscow.

The Department of Ministry of Interior in Moscow sent a letter to the rector of the High School of Economics with the recommendation to expel those six students who participated and were detained in the dispersed March of Dissent in December 2008 . The letter requests that the rector Jaroslava Kuzminova give them information about undertaken measures. Kuzminiva commented to the www.ej.ru portal that she is not going to follow the recommendation.

24-26 January

Rostov-on–Don:

On 24 January a group of activists of the Other Russia disseminated fliers with appeals to the police agents not to be against people. Elena Sugonjak (aged 17) was detained in the vicinity of Pervomajskiy district police office. She was questioned by agents of Department to counteract extremism (former UBOP). On 25 January, they held the search in the room which she occupies in the student dormitory. No warrant was presented. Then she was taken to the Department to counteract extremism and interrogated again. She was subjected to psychological pressure by demonstrating photos of mutilated corpses and telling stories about hardships of women’s detention colonies. She was also threatened with being expelled from the institute. On 26 January, people in civilian clothes visited Elena’s parents in the village of Orlovskiy of the Rostov-on-Don region. They threatened that Elena would be under FSB surveillance and offered criminal charges if she didn’t quit her political activities. According to the obtained information, the threats were reported to the prosecutor’s office the same day.

On 26 January, the police searched another house in the village of Orlovskiy of Rostov Region. Valeria Ukrainskaja, also an activist with the Other Russia and NBP, is registered there at her parents’ house. The police searched her room and advised her parents not to let Valeria go to Moscow to participate in the March of Dissent as “there might be shooting there”.

Nizhny Novgorod:

On 26 January, several FSB agents visited an NBP activist, Vladimir Zin’kovskiy in his working place. They demanded that he become their informer. Zin’kovskiy refused to collaborate with them. The FSB threatened that he would soon experience consequences to this decision.

21-22 January

Two activists of the civil movement, Andrej Dudenok and Alexej Umerenko, were subjected to administrative arrest which term is disproportionate to the gravity of the “offence”.

Khabarovsk:

Andrej Dudenok is one of organizers of civil protest in Khabarovsk which developed on 22 November. Since then he has been subjected to pressure from the police department to counteract extremism (former UBOP). On 21 January he went to the road police office to find out bank details to pay the road fine. He was detained there under the pretext that the payment of the fine was overdue. While his friends were paying the fine, Dudenok was sentenced to 11 days in custody, until 1 February 2009.

Novosibirsk:

Alexej Umerenko, also an activist of the civil protest, was detained the following day, January 22, following the same scenario. He was riding his car when he was stopped by the road police. He was taken to the police where he learnt that they accuse him of not paying a 100-ruble fine in due time. He was taken to court and sentenced to 10 days of administrative custody for delay in payment, which is also until 1 February, 2009.

On 28 January, in the town of Berdsk of Novosibirsk Region, police detained another activist of the civil movement Sergey Kononov (he is also involved into protest movement against increase in taxes for cars of foreign makes). It happened right after the “Comradeship of Active Citizens” (TIGR) confirmed their intention to join All-Russia Action of Protest initiated by the KPRF (Communist Party of Russia) also on 31 January. According to obtained information, the police intruded into Kononov’s flat illegally producing now documents. He was taken to the investigatory prison under the pretext of public misbehavior. According to the TIGR representatives, Kononov is also accused of not paying a 100-ruble fine in due time.

Oksana Chelysheva, http://www.finrosforum.fi/?p=1739