TYMOSHENKO HANDED 7-YEAR SENTENCE
POLITKOVSKAYA CASE SEES NEW CHARGES
Russian investigators marked the 5th anniversary of journalist Anna Politkovskaya’s killing on Friday by filing new charges against suspects involved in the slaying, but they have remained silent about who might have ordered her murder.
Politkovskaya, a sharp critic of the Kremlin and its policies in Chechnya, was gunned down in the elevator of her Moscow apartment building on October 7, 2006. The brutal attack drew worldwide attention to violence against journalists in Russia and caused widespread suspicions of government involvement.
Russia’s top investigative body said it’s filing formal charges Friday against Lom-Ali Gaitukayev, a native of Chechnya accused of organizing the killing. It said it will also bring new accusations against the suspected triggerman, Rustam Makhmudov and several other suspects.
Makhmudov’s two brothers and another suspect, former Moscow police officer Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, stood trial on charges of helping stage the killing, but a court found them not guilty in 2009. The Russian Supreme Court overruled the acquittal and has sent the case back to prosecutors. Makhmudov and Gaitukayev — uncle of the Makhmudov brothers — have been detained earlier.
The Investigative Committee said that it will bring new charges Friday against Khadzhikurbanov and the two Makhmudov brothers, Dzhabrail and Ibragim. Khadzhikurbanov has been in custody, while the two Chechen brothers are free but have been requested not to leave town. The Committee had told the public earlier about the accusations against Gaitukayev and others, and today’s statement was a clear attempt to demonstrate a progress in the case.
The investigators also said that Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, who was a senior police officer at the time of the killing, is accused of tracking down Politkovskaya’s movements to help stage the killing. Pavlyuchenkov, who served as a witness during the abortive first trial, was arrested in August.
Politkovskaya’s Novaya Gazeta newspaper has welcomed the detention of the suspected shooter and other suspects, but lamented slow progress on finding a person who ordered the killing and described Friday’s step as a mere formality. Politkovskaya’s son, Ilya, also criticized authorities for failing to track down the mastermind.
“Five years after we only have suspects accused of staging the killing,” he said, according to RIA Novosti news agency. “It could have been done much earlier. A lot of time has been lost.”
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Politkovskaya was killed on the birthday of Vladimir Putin, who was serving his second presidential term at the time. This fact helped fuel speculations about possible involvement of authorities angered by Politkovskaya’s exposure of atrocities in Chechnya.
“She was challenging the dominant power of the government with her lonely efforts,” Novaya Gazeta said on its front-page, which was carrying a photo of Politkovskaya.
Putin made his first public remarks on Politkovskaya’s death a few days after, saying that she had little influence and that her slaying did more harm to Russia than her articles did. Putin, who turned 59 Friday, is now Russia’s prime minister and is all but certain to reclaim presidency in next March’s elections.
Earlier this week, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed allegations of possible government involvement in Politkovskaya’s killing in remarks broadcast by independent TV station Dozhd (Rain). “People, are you crazy to associate this with Putin?” he said.
Politkovskaya’s colleagues marked the anniversary of her death by opening a Facebook account dedicated to her memory, posting her pictures, books and favorite music.
PUTIN TRAVELS TO CHINA TO IMPROVE TIES
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Chinese leaders opened two days of meetings Tuesday aimed at boosting relations amid strains over declining military sales and stalled energy deal talks.
Putin said after meeting with Premier Wen Jiabao that political relations between the countries were good, but hinted that tough negotiations over a massive natural gas deal still had a distance to go.
“Those who sell always want to sell at a higher price, while those who buy want to buy at a lower price. We need to reach a compromise which will satisfy both sides,” Putin told reporters. He was to meet President Hu Jintao on Wednesday.
Besides a struggle to increase trade and agree on sales of Russian gas to fuel China’s booming economy, Moscow is also unhappy with China’s copying of Russian fighter jets and other military hardware and recently announced the arrest of a Chinese man accused of seeking to buy military secrets.
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Putin’s two-day visit follows his recent announcement that he plans to swap jobs next year with President Dmitry Medvedev, returning him to the top position he held for eight years. Many observers say that transition could see Russia turn eastward after years of warming ties with the West under Medvedev.
One area of cooperation in which China and Russia appear closer is international policy. Last week, both vetoed a UN Security Council resolution condemning Syria for its brutal crackdown on pro-reform protesters that has killed nearly 3,000 people since March.
The vetoes drew heavy criticism from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Russia and China are also seen as key to how the Group of 20 responds to renewed fears that the global economy is headed toward a new recession.
Bilaterally, the two have worked to overcome mutual distrust from the Cold War and have increased two-way trade volume to $35.9 billion in the first half of the year, up 39.6 percent from the same period last year, according to official Chinese figures.
Efforts to finalize the natural gas deal have stalled mainly because of pricing disagreements. Russia is eager to link gas prices to oil prices as it does in Europe, but China says that is too expensive.
Wen told reporters China wanted to push ahead a “comprehensive strategic partnership” with Russia that would safeguard world stability and development.
Russian and Chinese officials say deals worth $7 billion are to be signed during the visit in fields ranging from mining to biotechnology and space exploration.
The sides are looking for even more cross-border investment, and on the eve of Putin’s visit, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan called for more financial cooperation and accelerated construction of cross-border highways, railways, bridges, power grids, telecommunications links, and oil and gas pipelines.
But hanging over the visit is last week’s announcement in Moscow that Russia’s intelligence service had detained an alleged Chinese spy who tried to obtain designs of an advanced missile system as part of Beijing’s efforts to update its weaponry.
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The Chinese national, who worked as an interpreter for visiting Chinese officials, attempted to buy documentation for the S-300 long-range surface-to-air missile system, the Federal Security Service said. He faces up to 20 years in jail if convicted.
Friction has also arisen from China’s copying of Russian military hardware, especially the Su-27 jet fighter and its aircraft carrier variant, the Su-33.
Such copying has contributed to a virtual collapse in Chinese arms sales from Russia, further exacerbating the trade imbalance between the sides and fueling a growing competition for export markets among developing nations.
COMMENT: POOR MEDVEDEV
During the United Russia convention on Sept. 24, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin gave President Dmitry Medvedev the top spot on the party list. Now Medvedev is faced with a daunting goal — to lead United Russia to victory in the State Duma elections, a top priority for the Kremlin.
It is already clear that United Russia’s campaign will have a large social component — including promises to establish “fair prices” for consumer staples, increasing pensions and salaries for many state employees, pledging to improve the health care and education systems, and controlling the price of utilities.
But there is one hitch regarding Medvedev’s new populist role in United Russia. Until now, Medvedev has tried to build an image as a liberal reformer. How will this jibe with a more conservative United Russia, a party of “stabilization” and bureaucracy? How will Medvedev be able to appeal to the party’s large electoral base made up of state employees?
Medvedev is also struggling with the problem of political status. Having made himself into a lame duck by refusing to run for a second term, he will have trouble mobilizing anyone. That is why Medvedev must now employ populism and disavow everything that he said as president.
But creating a “new” Medvedev will be difficult to pull off. His ideology remains undefined, and, more importantly, his political standing has been severely compromised by his decision not to run for president in 2012 and to continue to play the role of junior tandem partner as prime minister.
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As president, Medvedev focused on small and midsize businesspeople, liberals, the youth and technology-oriented Russians. Now, in his new capacity with United Russia, he will have to appeal to a new constituency that he all but ignored before — state employees and pensioners, most of whom are poor.
Last week, the State Statistics Service reported that 14.9 percent of the population lives below the poverty level. Promises by leaders to raise salaries and pensions, rein in the price of utilities and goods controlled by monopolies, and make basic medicines and surgery free of charge should be very popular.
In surveys, Russians consistently say rising prices or a lack of money are the most serious problems they face. For example, an August survey by the Levada Center found that 73 percent of the population consider rising prices the most acute problem in the country, 52 percent cited poverty and the impoverishment of the majority of the population, and 42 percent cited increasing unemployment.
Russians have little faith in elections, with 46 percent believing that the December Duma elections will be marred by manipulation and fraud, according to an August Levada Center poll. People will vote for United Russia on Dec. 4 only if they believe that the party can at least modestly improve their standard of living.
Impoverished voters are more likely to swing their vote from the Communist Party and Liberal Democratic Party to United Russia in response to new promises of handouts. As the new leader of United Russia, Medvedev has the depressing task of pronouncing the populist slogan of “Help for the Poor!”
In the end, Medvedev has given up the task of trying to develop the country and giving people a way to support themselves through honest labor.
TYMOSHENKO HANDED 7-YEAR SENTENCE
Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was found guilty of abuse of office Tuesday and sentenced to seven years in jail, in a trial widely condemned in the West as politically motivated.
Judge Rodion Kireyev also barred Tymoshenko, now the country’s top opposition leader, from occupying government posts for three years after the completion of her prison term and fined her 1.5 billion hryvna ($190 million) in damages to the state.
Tymoshenko remained calm, but didn’t wait for Kireyev to finish reading the lengthy ruling, standing up from her seat and addressing reporters in the courtroom as he spoke. She compared her verdict, which she claimed was written by her longtime foe, President Viktor Yanukovych, to the horrific purges by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.
“The year 1937 has returned to Ukraine with this verdict and all the repression of citizens,” she said, adding that she would contest the ruling. “As for me, be sure that I will not stop my fight even for a minute. I will always be with you as long as it is necessary.”
“Nobody, not Yanukovych, not Kireyev, can humiliate my honest name. I have worked and will continue to work for Ukraine’s sake,” Tymoshenko told reporters earlier.
As Kireyev was leaving the courtroom, Tymoshenko’s husband Oleksandr yelled out that his time would also come for a similar verdict. One Tymoshenko supporter shouted “Shame!”
Tymoshenko was found guilty of exceeding her authority during the signing of a natural gas import contract with Russia in 2009. The court ruled that she was not authorized to order the contract signed and that the price she agreed to was too high, causing losses to the state budget.
The European Union was quick to condemn the verdict as politically motivated and urged the Ukrainian authorities to ensure a transparent and fair appeals process for Tymoshenko. A failure to do so would have “profound implications” for Ukraine-EU relations and could jeopardize the conclusion of a landmark association agreement, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in a statement.
Tymoshenko, 50, was the driving force behind the 2004 Orange Revolution, which overturned Yanukovych’s fraud-tainted election victory. Yanukovych staged a comeback, narrowly defeating Tymoshenko in a 2010 presidential vote amid public disenchantment with economic hardships and constant bickering among those who had ousted Yanukovych.
Tymoshenko has already spent over two months in jail after Kireyev ordered her arrested for contempt of court. Tymoshenko had also spent several weeks in prison in 2001 on charges of document forgery and tax evasion, but the charges were later dropped.
Tymoshenko maintains her innocence and claims that her trial was orchestrated by Yanukovych in order to bar her from upcoming elections.
She says as prime minister she did not need any special permission to order the signing of the gas deal and maintains her actions helped end a bitter pricing dispute between Moscow and Kiev, which had led to energy supply shortages across Europe.
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