| June 22, 2010 |
| YABLOKO
wins a case in the Constitutional Court
Press Release, June 22, 2010.
YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin
expressed his satisfaction with the decision of the
Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation on
the complaint from YABLOKO’s member Andrei Malitsky.
The Constitutional Court ruled out
that some provisions on the Russian Federaiton law
“On the Basic Guarantees of Franchise and the
Right to Referendum” connected with a ban for
the citizens residing in a foreign state to be members
of electoral commissions. Being a Russian citizen
Malitsky obtained in 2009 a residence permit in Lithuania.
Due to this fact he was expelled from a territorial
electoral commission in Moscow where he represented
YABLOKO’s interests...
|
| YABLOKO
conducted the “1,418 Candles in Memory of the
War” action in the Russian cities
Press Release, June 22, 2010.
YABLOKO’s activists conducted
memory actions in different Russian cities on the
night from June 21 to June 22, on the day of the 69th
anniversary of the beginning o the Great Patriotic
War (Ed. The term used in Russia and the CIS countries
to describe the period of 1941-1945 of the Second
World War, when Hilter invaded the USSR)... |
| June 21, 2010 |
| Freedom
of expression: EU should learn from Iceland
Press Release, ALDE, June
21, 2010
Europe must protect freedom of expression
and press following the example of Iceland" said
Marietje Schaake (D66, NL) during today's ALDE seminar
on " Censorship and Self censorship" hosted
with Alexander Lambsdorff (FDP, DE) which looked at
challenges to freedom of expression, with a special
focus on the role the internet plays and with the
aim to be informed, and inspired by good practices,
to be alerted to worst cases, and to consequently
look at concrete ways to make Europe a safe haven
for the free word, also online.
"Freedom of expression is under
threat in Europe, which instead should be a model
for the rest of the world. How can we credibly speak
about a lack of freedom of expression in China or
Iran if we don't apply the highest standards ourselves?
Journalists, cartoonists, but also scientists are
increasingly censored, or apply self-censorship, and
in worst cases, individuals are not able to live in
freedom after expressing certain opinions. This is
unacceptable and that's why we should learn from Iceland
where the most protective draft legislation for whistleblowers,
confidential sources of journalists and libel-tourism
prevention is being prepared." Schaake added
"No person should be afraid of
the consequences when they freely express themselves.
That would be contrary to European values we believe
in and protect. ALDE defends the right to offend which
is an essential part of freedom of expression, and
we will stand with those who come under pressure to
freely express their views, be they political, artistic
or otherwise." said Alexander Lambsdorff...
|
| Memory
of the victims of the war is a part of personal genetic
memory
Press Release, June 21, 2010.
On June 22 at 4 a.m. representatives
of the Pskov regional branch of YABLOKO headed by
their Chair Lev Shlosberg will pay tribute to the
memory of the victims of the Second World War at the
Victory square by Eternal Flame. The activists will
lay flowers to the Grave of the Unknown Soldier and
light candles.
“Participation in this memorial
action is a civil and not a party action,” Lev
Shlosberg said. “This is an integral part of
a personal genetic memory of a person, as well as
genetic memory of the nation.” Party
symbols will not be used in the action.
|
| Grigory
Yavlinsky to visit Kirov on June 24
Press Release, June 20, 2010.
Renown Russian politician and economist,
one of the founders of the YABLOKO party and member
of YABLOKO’s Political Committee Dr.Grigory Yavlinsky
will visit Kirov on June 24.
The first event in his programme will
be a meeting with the public. Then Grigory Yavlinsky
will deliver a lecture “Modernisation of Russia’s
Economic and Political System” in the Vyatka State
University. A meeting of Grigory Yavlinsky and Governor
of the Kirov Region Nikita Belykh will take place
at 2 p.m. A press-conference will be organised after
the meeting. The closing event of the visit will be
Grigory Yavlinsky’s meeting with the activists of
the Kirov branch of the YABLOKO party...
|
| Ombudsman
against the interior and security forces
By Andrei Kolesnikov, Forbes
Russia, June 18, 2010.
Mr. Lukin as Ombudsman is an experiment:
a democrat of 1960s (Ed. The famous period of liberalisation
in the Soviet Union) in the state structure of the
Putin’s period. Will he survive or not? Will
he bend or not? Will he merge with the surroundings
or not? He survived, did not bend and did not merge...
But he unexpectedly presented an example
of an honest politician in dishonest circumstances.
There even emerged such an unconventional concept
in politics as a conscience. And this is an awesome
power. They all are afraid of that old honest man. |
| Belgium's
EU Presidency well prepared despite election results
Press Release, ELDR, June
10, 2010
On Sunday 13 June, more than seven
million Belgians were invited to cast their ballot
in elections for both the House of Representatives
and 40 seats in the Senate. These early elections
were made necessary after the Belgian federal government,
led by the Christian Democrat Prime Minister Yves
Leterme, collapsed in April of this year over deadlock
on economic questions as well as the lingering question
of the electoral district of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde
- the last remaining in Belgium where it is possible
to vote for either Dutch or French speaking political
parties...
See also:YABLOKO's
Sister-Parties
|
| June 18, 2010 |
| YABLOKO
to light 1,418 candles in memory of the war
Press Release, June 18, 2010.
In the night from June 21 to June
22 (on the memory date when Hitler invaded the USSR)
YABLOKO’s activists will hold an action “1,418
candles for each day of war” to commemorate
the 69th anniversary of the Great Patriotic War of
the Soviet Union of 1941-1945...
In St.Petersburg YABLOKO’s activists
will light candles by the Blockade Ice-Hole where
the citizens took water during blockade (Fontanka
embankment 21) on June 22 at 4 a.m.
Traditional YABLOKO’s action “1,418 candles
for each day of war” has been taking place in
Moscow and St.Petersburg for several years already.
|
| Liberals
victorious in Dutch elections: difficult coalition
talks ahead
Press Release, Liberal International,
Issue 188, June 17, 2010
The Dutch elections saw victories
for both LI Full Members VVD and D66. VVD became the
largest Dutch party for the first time since its foundation.
VVD secured 20.5% of the popular vote, an increase
of nearly 6%, while D66 more than doubled their support
from 3% to 7%. VVD Leader Mark Rutte now faces difficult
coalition talks due to the fragmented Dutch political
landscape. The right-wing Freedom Party became third
biggest and was regarded winner of the elections next
to the VVD. Due to the big electoral gains of VVD
and the Freedom Party, Rutte expressed his wish to
start talks with the right-wing party and the Christian
Democrats: “After all, the VVD and PVV won a
total of 23 additional [seats] in the parliamentary
elections. A coalition with them will be difficult,
but not impossible”. Meanwhile, D66-leader Alexander
Pechtold expressed his wish for a socialist-liberal
coalition to “reform The Netherlands in a responsible
manner. It will be a balanced and stabile coalition:
something we need in times of economic troubles”...
More
Liberals
victorious in Dutch elections: difficult coalition
talks ahead
Past LI President Lord Alderdice new Convener in House
of Lords
Keskusta elects new leader, Finland will have new
female liberal PM
Westerwelle meets Clegg in Berlin: expresses concern
about Kyrgyzstan
Democrat Party victorious in Bangkok local elections
Belgian liberals vow to rebuild liberal brand for
Belgium
Ansip expresses Estonian ambitions at Reform Party
General Assembly
Swedish People’s Party in Finland holds Congress
ADR Burundi leader arrested, and released ahead of
mega-election year (Online only)
LI Human Rights Committee Convenes (Online only)
|
| June 17, 2010 |
| Oppositional
journalist’s house burnt in the Saratov region
Press Release, June 17, 2010.
The house of Editor-in-Chief of the
Ogni Povolzhiya (Lights of the Volga) newspaper and
member of the Regional Council of the Saratov branch
of YABLOKO Salimzhan Gaisin was burned on the night
of June 15. His daughter and son in law and their
two children managed to get out of the burning house.
A newly built house and an adjacent old building completely
burt out. YABLOKO expresses support of the colleague
and considers this accident as obviously of criminal
nature.
“We connect this not only with
the journalistic activity, but also with a pro-active
attitude and human rights activities by Salimzhan
Gaisin, who conducted numerous anti-corruption investigations,
revealed facts of abuse of power by local officials
and identified numerous violations of election law,”
runs the statement by the Bureau of the Saratov branch
of YABLOKO...
|
| Modernisation
Versus Stagnation?
By Sergei Mitrokhin
Politkom.ru, June 15, 2010
Part 2
Here we are appraoching the problem
of overcoming the totalitarian past, which was solved
by all the countries in transition from totalitarianism
to democracy. And each case dealt not simply with
exposing of totalitarian leaders and parties, but
in parallel with this it dealt with eradication of
the social habits carrying the inertia of totalitarianism.
We have not virtually solved this problem...
|
| June 16, 2010 |
| Russian
and European Integration
Speech by Sergei Mitrokhin
Liberal International Executive Committee
Berlin, June 11, 2010
Announcing a policy towards modernisation
in Russia President of Russia put himself in line
with a number of Russian rulers-reformers who aspired
to perform radical transformations in the country.
Some specific traits of this policy resemble those
of his predecessors. The President understands modernisation
primarily as acceleration of scientific and technological
development. With some reservations about the need
for political reform, the latter look like a number
of quite shallow and very systematic activities...
|
| Modernisation
Versus Stagnation?
By Sergei Mitrokhin
Politkom.ru, June 15, 2010
Part 1
Announcing a policy towards modernisation
in Russia President of Russia put himself in line
with a number of Russian rulers-reformers who aspired
to perform radical transformations in the country.
Some specific traits of this policy resemble those
of his predecessors. The President understands modernisation
primarily as acceleration of scientific and technological
development. With some reservations about the need
for political reform, the latter look like a number
of quite shallow and very systematic activities...
|
| Svetlana
Kuznetsova, head of the Soldiers’ Mothers faction
on amendments to the law on the military service submitted
to the Russian parliament
Press Release, June 9, 2010.
Svetlana Kuznetsova, head of the Soldiers’
Mothers faction in the YABLOKO party, says that “YABLOKO
is categorically against the amendments referring
to a legalized “buy-out” from the army
service, as they are discriminatory and targeted at
commercialization of the army. The authors of the
amendments say that the state does not have enough
money for a contract-based army; whereas every such
one million roubles [about USD 30,000 paid by a young
person wishing to avoid mandatory military service]
will suffice for maintenance of two contract soldiers.
Since 2001 YABLOKO has been insisting that the state
has enough money on a contract army and our economists
can prove that”...
|
| June 15, 2010 |
| Action
against mandatory army conscription took place by
the Ministry of Defence
Press Release, June 15, 2010
Action against mandatory army conscription
organised by the Youth YABLOKO took place by the Ministry
of Defence on June 15. Ten YABLOKO’s activists
were holding a slogan “How many of us should
die so that you abolish mandatory army conscription?”
and also chanted “Away with mandatory army conscription,
let’s transfer to a contract conscription!”...
...The picket resumed at the Gogol
Boulvalrd. The organiser of the action Kirill Gontcharov
stated that incessant chain of deaths of young conscripts
made YABLOKO to hold such an action. He also noted
that “due to corruption only children from poor
families serve in the army”. “Instead
of defending our motherland our soldiers have to build
country houses for generals and clean water closets,”
he added. He also said that “harassment of subordinates
became a symbol of the Russian army”...
|
|
YABLOKO’s
leader made a speech at the Executive Committee of
Liberal International
Press Release, June 13, 2010
On June 11 YABLOKO’s leader
Sergei Mitrokhin made a speech at the Executive Committee
of Liberal International in Berlin. As Sergei Mitrokhin’s
speech was scheduled in the agenda item “Human
Rights in the Authoritarian States”, he spoke
about police breaking YABLOKO’s picket by the
Russian parliament which was conducted against adoption
of the law “on preventive measures against extremism”,
as well as breaking of a peaceful rally on the Triumfalnaya
square in Moscow on May 31.
The participants of the Executive
Committee also received Sergei Mitrokhin’s report
“Russia and European Integration”. In
this report YABLOKO’s leader once again stressed
the necessity to work out a single strategy for EU
interaction with Russia, which should be based on
integration, rather than confrontation. According
to Mitrokhin, the first step in realisation of this
strategy would be introduction of a visa-free regime
between Russia and the European Union.
Another example of realization of this uniform strategy,
runs the report, may be the Anti-Ballistic Missile
Defence system (ABM) as a joint project of the RF
and NATO countries. “Both the West and Russia
will profit from such cooperation and lose from confrontation,
as democracy can not develop in anti-Western hysteria”,
Mitrokhin stressed.
The report also indicates that cooperation
between Russia and the European Union should take
place in the field of environmental safety too.
According to Mitrokhin, “the
present political and economic situation in the country
can be characterised as the ongoing stagnation which
began under Putin. Russia’s modernisation announced
by President Medvedev has been taking place in words
only”...
|
| European
Liberals congratulate their two Dutch member parties
with their fantastic election results
Press Release, ELDR, June
10, 2010
The VVD has won the Dutch parliamentary
elections on Wednesday 9 June, becoming the number
one party in the Netherlands for the first time in
its 62 year history, with 20.4% of the votes. The
election night started with exit polls showing the
Liberals and Labour running neck-and-neck, but when
90% of the votes were counted the VVD took the lead
with 31 seats (an increase of 9 seats) against 30
for Labour, which lost three seats.
VVD Leader Mark Rutte, who is expected
to become the next Prime Minister, made a victory
speech in the early hours of Thursday 10 June: "During
the campaign, we have tirelessly tried to convince
people of our convictions how to get our country out
of the crisis. This result gives our party an obligation
which we can all sense. We will respect the result
and the trust which the voters have given us."
The VVD campaigned with the slogan "putting affairs
in order," calling for a stop to reckless public
spending and a rigorous budget cut to ensure sustainable
state finances.
The Dutch voters, however, have given
a difficult task to Mark Rutte as the political landscape
remains fragmented and any government coalition will
have to consist of at least three parties.
The other ELDR member party, the social
liberal D66 obtained 7% of the votes and more than
tripled its number of seats, from 3 to 10. D66 achieved
the highest result in Wageningen, the hometown of
its Political leader Alexander Pechtold; 15%.
ELDR President Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck
MEP: "I am thrilled to see that both our Dutch
member parties have achieved such good results. It
confirms our conviction that citizens expect leadership
in these times of crisis and support parties which
are not afraid to implement liberal reforms and tough
measures to achieve again a sustainable budget."
|
| June 11, 2010 |
| YABLOKO’s
activists arrested by the Russian parliament for picketing
against the FSB law finally released, however, are
facing a trial
Press Release, June 11, 2010.
..Major Brezhnev personally participated
in detaining Grokhovsky: first he dragged Artur to
the police car and then hit him in the belly. Now
Anton is heading to the hospital to certify the bruises.
Grokhovsky also told that in February
he had been already arrested by the same policeman
for one-person picketing. Due to the video recording
made by YABLOKO Grokhovsky was acquitted by the court
then. Grokhovsky hopes that the court will acquit
the activists this time too, as the action was also
recorded...
|
| Liberal
International to discuss arbitrary actions of Moscow
police in breaking YABLOKO's picket
Press Release, June 11, 2010.
YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin
expressed his indignation with police breaking of
YABLOKO’s one-person picket and arresting the activists
protesting against the amendments to the law on the
Federal Security Service (former KGB) by the Russian
parliament building. No permission or coordination
with authorities is required for conducting one-person
pickets in accordance with the Russian law. Nevertheless
the picket was brutally broken and the activists were
arrested.
Mitrokhin said that actions by police
officers who arrested the activist holding the placard,
as well as three other activists who were standing
by were a rude violation of the Constitution and the
law “On assemblies, meetings, demonstrations and pickets”...
|
| Action
“Preventing Extremism” brutally broken
by police
Press Release, June 11, 2010.
Video, photos.
Action against introduction of amendments
on the law on the Federal Security Service (the former
KGB), which YABLOKO attempted to hold today by the
building of the State Duma (the Russian Parliament)
was brutally broken by police. Despite of the fact
that it was a one-person picketing (four activists
had to replace each other in turn) and did not require
any permissions or notifications from the authorities,
four YABLOKO’s activists were arrested and taken
to the local police department and a placard depicting
the head of KGB Felix Dzerzhinsky, the closest accomplice
of Stalin in setting terror in the country Lavrenty
Beria, and Vladimir Putin and bearing a the words
"The KGB people vote FOR it!" was confiscated.
On June 11, at 9.30 am, half an hour
before the plenary session the Russian parliament
had to start, First Deputy Chair of the Moscow Yabloko
Galina Mikhalyova took her place by the main entrance
to the parliament building with a placard depicting
Felix Dzerzhinsky, Lavrenty Beria and Vladimir Putin
against a black ground and a hand voting for them.
“The law on preventing extremism. The KGB people
vote FOR it!" ran the slogan under the picture.
The Russian parliament will discuss this draft law
in the first reading today...
|
| Journalist
and YABLOKO member Yuri Schekochikhin would have turned
60 today…
Grigory Yavlinsky’s letter
to Vsevolod Bogdanov, Chair of Russia’s Journalists
Union, June 9, 2010.
Yuri Schekochikhin is an event in
the lives of all of us, an event both in our journalism
and in politics. Whatever he did - wrote play scripts,
engaged in journalist investigation or worked as a
Russian parliament member – all was very different
from how other people did this, all had an imprint
of his personality, talent and his understanding of
freedom and justice.
Yuri Petrovich was not merely a politician
in the ordinary sense or the word, he understood life
as the one who had the ability to transform it. A
special atmosphere always emerged around him, and
there was place for different people by his side.
And he still unites us all, we do not simply keep
memories of him, but feel his presence in our life.
Yuri Schekochikhin has always been
and remains our friend.
Sincerely,
Grigory Yavlinsky |
| June 10, 2010 |
| Verhofstadt
congratulates Dutch Liberal parties on election success
Press Release, ALDE, June
10, 2010
Guy VERHOFSTADT, President of the
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in the European
Parliament, today sent his congratulations to both
Liberal parties on their outstanding election results
in the Netherlands.
"The victory of VVD in topping
the polls will bring another Prime Minister to the
Liberal table in Europe and marks an historic achievement
for the Party. The 31 seats that Mr Rutte's party
gained in the national parliament will provide a strong
base for taking the necessary, if tough, measures
on the economy to create growth and job opportunities
in the longer term."
"Alexander Pechtold's D66 also
did exceptionally well in more than tripling their
score of parliamentarians. I look forward to working
with both parties in the months and years ahead."
|
| June 7, 2010 |
| Action
in memory of Larissa Yudina took place by Representation
of the Republic of Kalmykia in Moscow
Press Release, June 7, 2010
Today, on June 7, on the tragic anniversary
of the murder of leader of Kalmyk YABLOKO and oppositional
journalist Larissa Yudina took place by Representation
of the Republic of Kalmykia in Moscow. The participants
of the action demanded to release the names of those
who ordered the murder of Larissa Yudina, who, according
to YABLOKO’s data, were determined by the investigation.
“We can not rule out that [President of the
Republic] Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was the one who personally
ordered the murder,” Sergei Mitrokhin said at
the picket.
Today it is the 12th anniversary since
the murder of Larissa Yudina, the leader of Kalmyk
YABLOKO, editor-in-chief of Sovietskaya Kalmykia Segodnya
and main opponent of the President of the Republic
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. On this day YABLOKO’s activists
brought portraits of their murdered colleague and
lit candles by the Representation of the Republic
of Kalmykia in Moscow...
Mitrokhin promised that YABLOKO will
hold the action by Representation of the Republic
of Kalmykia every year until those who ordered the
murder are punished.
|
| Flash
mob in protection of the Lake Baikal at the Red Square
Press Release. June 5, 2010.
Video, photographs.
On June 5, the World Environment Day,
the activists of the YABLOKO party conducted a flash
mob at the Red Square. YABLOKO’s activists carried
a large white banner showing the Lake Baikal chanting
"Hands off of the Lake Baikal!" The same
slogan was printed on their shirts. However, this
march was broken by police and all the participants
of the action were taken to the police station. |
| YABLOKO
submits application dispute lawfulness of the recently
adopted General Plan of Moscow Development
Press Release. June 7, 2010
Today, on June 7, YABLOKO’s leader
Sergei Mitrokhin submitted an application to the Moscow
City Court disputing lawfulness of the General Plan
of Moscow Development. Mitrokhin asks the court to
recognise adoption of the General Plan of Moscow Development
null and void.... |
| June 4, 2010 |
| On
June 7, 2010, YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin
will start litigation in the Moscow City Court disputing
lawfulness of the General Plan of Moscow Development
Press Release. June 4, 2010
On Monday, June 7, 2010, YABLOKO’s
leader Sergei Mitrokhin will start litigation in the
Moscow City Court disputing lawfulness of the General
Plan of Moscow Development. “The conclusion
of the state expertise was signed on December 22,
2009, a month after the draft General Plan of Moscow
Development was submitted to the Moscow City Duma.
This fact alone will suffice for abrogation, however,
in our statement we indicate a number of other procedural
violations,” Sergei Mitrokhin said... |
| YABLOKO’s
leader to visit Nizhni Novgorod
Press Release. June 4, 2010
On Saturday, June 5, YABLOKO’s
leader Sergei Mitrokhin will visit Nizhni Novgorod.
As part of his mission, Mitrokhin
and political scientists and businessmen from Nizhny
Novgorod will take part in a roundtable discussion
"Environmental and political situation in Russia.
The upcoming elections in autumn 2010”. The
event will be held at the Higher School of Economics
from 09:30 to 10:40. Then Sergei Mitrokhin, will participate
in a press conference for regional journalists devoted
to the elections. The press conference will take place
in the Interfax office (beginning at 11:00).
Then YABLOKO’s leader Sergei
Mitrokhin and Chair YABLOKO’s Green Russia faction
Acad. Alexei Yablokov will conduct a picket against
the raising of the water level in the Cheboksary reservoir.
Members of the environmental organization Dront will
also participate in the picket... |
| Destruction
of nature has been accelerating
Statement by the YABLOKO party.
June 4, 2010
The biosphere of our planet has not
improved for the past year. We have been facing dangerous
ongoing climate change, deterioration of the condition
of the world ocean, shrinking biodiversity, disappearance
of the rain forests, aging nuclear power stations
and proliferation of nuclear weapons threaten us with
another Chernobyl, chemical contamination and the
spread of GMOs. Influential international bodies –
the G-8 and the G-20, the World Bank, the European
and the Asian Banks of Reconstruction and Development
- declaring the importance of preserving the planet's
ecosystems in words, virtually support quick-profit
technologies detrimental on nature.
Lack of stringent environmental control
over implementation of commercial projects at the
national and the international level leads to a terrible
disasters like that we observe in the Gulf of Mexico... |
| Ombudsman
Lukin: Rallies can not be “unsanctioned”
Human Rights in Russia, hro.org.
June 2, 2010
Russia’s Ombudsman and one of
the founders of the YABLOKO party Vladimir Lukin says
that the heads of the interior should apologise before
the participants of the rally they arrested at the
Triunfalnaya Square, Moscow. He
also refuses to sign an agreement on cooperation with
the Interior Ministry until this is done, runs the
BBC service.
Lukin has also prepared or is going
to prepare and submit to the heads of the state proposals
on “normalisation of the situation with conducting
rallies,” Grani.ru informs with a reference
to the Echo Moskvi radio station. Lukin announced
this while commenting on police breaking of the action
held in protection of Article 31 of the Constitution
of Russia which guarantees freedom of assembly. “The
Russian law does not contain such words as “sanctioned”
or “unsanctioned”, and all the talk about
sanctions are purely subjective,” Lukin stated.
He also added that the heads of the Interior Ministry
should conduct a thorough investigation of the events
at the Triumfalnaya Square in Moscow on May 31.
Lukin also reiterated that he himself
had been present at the rally and “can state
that the law enforcement acted in an extremely tough
and rude manner”. He also noted that on the
same day the authorities gave a permission to conduct
“a ‘gala-medical’ action”;
whereas all the participants of this action were allowed
to conduct a rally in the centre of Moscow from early
in the morning till late at night... |
| Ombudsman’s
Report for 2009 published
Press Release. May 28, 2010
Russia’s Ombudsman and one of
the founders of the YABLOKO party Vladimir Lukin published
Report - 2009. The Report deals with the most acute
problems of human rights in Russia, provides information
on Ombudsman’s activities, including dealing
with citizens’ requests, interaction with the
state bodes and civil society institutes, analysis
of the present law in the field of human rights, as
well as proposals on its further development. The
key factor determining the composition of Lukin’s
Report was the dynamics of developments in the field
of human rights in Russia... |
| June 3, 2010 |
| The
murderer of the leader of the Dagestan YABLOKO sentenced
to 15 years of imprisonment
newsru.com. June 3, 2010
According to Interfax, the Supreme
Court of Dagestan sentenced Rakhil Mamedrezayaev to
15 years of imprisonment in the colony of strict regime,
the Jury found Mamedrezayaev guilty of murder of Farid
Babayev, the leader of the Dagestan YABLOKO, and unlawful
keeping of guns.
The state prosecution asked the court
to sentence the accused to 12 years of imprisonment
in accordance with Article 105 of the Criminal Code
(murder) and to additional five years of imprisonment
in accordance with Article 222 of the Criminal Code
(unlawful weapons-bearing and keeping of guns). Considering
this fact, the Jury acknowledged the accused deserving
leniency, the prosecutor asked to give him 16 years
in total... |
| A
long silence by the head of the state
Nezavisimaya Gazeta. June
3, 2010
Yesterday the European Union publicly
expressed its concern over the situation with human
rights in Russia. Such a statement was made by deputy
head of the EU delegation in Russia Michael Webb.
On the threashold of the Rostov-Don summit Moscow
police brutally supressed an opposition rally. The
head of state in the meantime did not respond to both
of the developments. NG experts comment that Dmitry
Medvedev is deliberately disassociating himself from
the urgent problems. They note that Premier Vladimir
Putin does not avoid the human rights topic.
Michael Webb of the EU mission said
at the news conference in Rostov-on-Don that the European
Union was particularly upset by the “situation
with human rights activists and murders of journalists
in Russia”. “We have also expressed our
concern with the fact that the crimes committed by
the law enforcement go unpunished,” Webb added... |
| June 2, 2010 |
| Moscow
YABLOKO delegated its representatives to the Consultative
Council under the Moscow City Duma
Press Release. June 2, 2010
Yesterday, on June 1, the Regional
Council of the Moscow YABLOKO once again examined
the issue of YABLOKO’s participation in the
Consultative Council under the Moscow City Duma. It
was decided to delegate two YABLOKO’s representatives
to the Consultative Council.
Chair of the Moscow YABLOKO Sergei
Mitrokhin and member of the Regional Council Elena
Morozova were elected out of five candidacies by secret
ballot... |
| June 1, 2010 |
| YABLOKO
demands raising of children’s allowances to
the subsistence minimum at picketing by the Ministry
of Health Care and Social Development
Press Release. June 1, 2010
Today, on the International Children’s
Day, the YABLOKO party conducted a series of one-person
pickets by the Ministry of Health Care and Social
Development demanding raising of children’s
allowances to the child’s subsistence minimum.
YABLOKO’s activists demonstrated what a person
can buy with child’s allowance amounting to
RUR 750 (approximately USD 25 per month).
The Moscow authorities did not give
their permit to conduct this action. The activists
held placards “Raise the allowance to the subsistence
minimum!” and “Subsistence minimum of
RUR 7,006 = children’s allowance of RUR 750?”... |
| On
the death of Andrei Voznesensky
Condolences by Sergei Mitrokhin
June 1, 2010
Andrei Voznesensky symbolized for
many people not only a new word not only in poetry,
but also in life. Bright, free and always in search
of new forms he long ago became a part of our modern
culture, turned into its history.
I express my deep condolences to his
spouse Zoya Boguslavskaya, friends and next-of-kin
of outstanding poet Andrei Voznesensky.
Sincerely,
Sergei Mitrokhin,
Chair of the YABLOKO party |
| Breaking
up of rallies means professional incompetence of the
Russian government
Statement by the YABLOKO party.
June 1, 2010
The Russian United Democratic Party
YABLOKO consders the reaction of the authorities to
the protest actions that took place in Moscow, St.Petersburg
and other Russian cities yesterday be unacceptable
and absurd.
A deliberately tough use of obviously
superior police forces against the groups of citizens
who simply expressed their opinion without endangering
anyone’s security represents a proof of inability
of state officials, top officials inclusive, to adequately
assess the situation in the country... |
| Nomination
of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov’s candidacy by the Russian
Chess Federation to the post of FIDE President means
a disgrace for Russia
Decision of YABLOKO’s
Bureau from May 22, 2010. May 31, 2010
The Russian United Democratic Party
YABLOKO has already made several statements that Kirsan
Ilyumzhinov’s regime in the Republic of Kalmykia
is one of the ugliest developments in Russia’s
political history of the past two decades representing
a disgusting mixture of authoritarian rule, corruption
and criminal.
Fight against this regime has in 1998
taken the life of Larissa Yudina, Chair of the Kalmyk
regional branch of YABLOKO, and Kirsan Ilyumzhinov’s
aid was found guilty of this murder. The political
responsibility for this crime lies, in our view, completely
on Kirsan Ilyumzhinov... |
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