What Happened to Russia?
By Grigory Yavlinsky, www.yavlinsky.ru, September 15, 2004
What happened to Russia? It drowned. In lies and cynicism.
Still, we have to swim on. We cannot sink to the bottom of this sea of cynicism and lies. Many people cannot live on in this way. After getting a taste of truth and freedom once, hoping that it will be possible to live in Russia and human dignity will be observed, they have become inner defectors.

Alexei Arbatov: 'Any Use of Force Creates Problems.'
Interview with Alexei Arbatov, Head of the Russian Academy of Sciences Center for International Security, by Yuliya Petrovskaya, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, September 27, 2004
...international terrorism "is the number one threat for Russia. But the whole problem is that our Army and Navy take only minimal responsibility for this threat.
...Israel,.. France, Britain, and Germany have great experience in combating terrorism. We should cooperate with these countries first."

Antimonopoly Service head on agency activities
RosBusinessConsulting, September 28, 2004
"...if we fine a small company that does not affect the situation on the market three times but turn a blind eye to violations of large companies that are supported by state authorities or have vast possibilities of defending themselves, the public will treat us correspondingly," Artemyev declared.

Committee-2008 Challenges Election Results in the Supreme Court
RIA "Novosti", September 27, 2004
"We regard our lawsuit, not as a political statement, but as a legal document," first deputy chairman of the Yabloko party Sergei Ivanenko said.

Re-elections ahead
Kommersant, September 27, 2004
Opposition filed a lawsuit to the Supreme Court, challenging the results of the last year's parliamentary elections

Liberals, Communists dispute parliamentary election at Supreme Court
Gazeta.ru, September 27, 2004
The liberal party Yabloko and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) have brought a suit to the Supreme Court against the Russian Central Election Commission. They are contesting the results of the parliamentary elections in December 2003. The members of the liberal Committee 2008: Free Choice have also brought joined the lawsuit.

Russia's dominant party dismisses opposition protest
AFP, September 28, 2004
Russia's muscular pro-Kremlin party struck back Tuesday at the enfeebled opposition's bid to annul last year's parliamentary election results, saying the move could only land it in more trouble.

Yabloko and the Communist party, challenge election results in court
ITAR TASS, September 27, 2004
The two parties said the Central Election Commission must be held responsible for approving vote protocols ignoring violations in the elections.

Highest Court to Evaluate 2003 Duma Elections
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, September 27, 2004
Yabloko Deputy Chairman Sergei Mitrokhin admitted that it is highly unlikely that the elections will be invalidated, but said a judicial examination of the campaign "will be very useful for making our election system more honest, transparent, objective, and fair."

Communists, Yabloko File Suit Over Elections
By Anatoly Medetsky, St Peterburg Times, September 28, 2004
"If we win, it will no doubt be a colossal breakthrough in terms of legality and fairness in conducting elections," Communist Party lawyer Vadim Solovyov said by telephone Monday.
But Solovyov doubted the lawsuit would be successful. "I think that our chances for success are less than 1 percent."

State Plans to Regulate Gasoline Prices
The Moscow Times, September 24, 2004
Russia could start intervening in its domestic refined oil products market next year after senior ministers backed plans to iron out sharp seasonal price swings, competition chief Igor Artemyev said Thursday.

Who Framed the President?
By Yelena Rudneva, Gazeta.ru, September 13, 2004
Deputy Vladimir Ryzhkov, a rare liberal independent in the State Duma, told Gazeta.Ru why the president's plans to have governors de facto appointed by the Kremlin are doomed to failure

Russian Governor Backs Colonel's Pardon
By Mara D. Bellaby, The Guardian, September 21, 2004
Russia's human rights ombudsman, Vladimir Lukin, said he would advise the president against pardoning Budanov.

Illegal Immigrants May Receive Amnesty
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, September 21, 2004
According to Lukin, an amnesty would reduce opportunities for corruption among bureaucrats and would increase tax revenues from longtime residents.

Liberals Seek Referendum to End the Draft
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, September 20, 2004
Among other things, advocates must collect at least 2 million signatures, with no more than 50,000 signatures from any single Russian region, using only registered signature collectors of whom there can be at most 100 in any region.

Prosecutors Question YABLOKO Activists Following Protest
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, September 21, 2004
Although the case comes under Article 319 of the Criminal Code (insulting an official), Yabloko activists claim the investigation is politically motivated. They deny that anyone insulted the police during the protest. Furthermore, they claim investigators are seeking information unrelated to any alleged insult: the names of those who attended, the slogans they used, and the means by which they informed the media about the place and time of the protest.

Interview with Mikhail Zadornov, member of the State Duma Budget Committee
Ekho Moskvi radio station, September 21, 2004
"...If we just provide more money without changing the way in which the security services work, they will just give themselves a tick, calm down and wait for the next such event," Zadornov added.

The Committee for the Protection of Muscovites and residents of the "Metrogorodok" district (the so-called phenol-contaminated apartment buildings) oppose the lies of the Chief Sanitary Inspector of Moscow Nikolai Filatov
Press Service, September 21, 2004
The action will take place at Grafskiy pereulok 4 (by the main entrance to the State Sanitary Inspection building in Moscow) on September 21, 2004, at 12-00.

Protest action by the Interior Ministry building, Moscow
Press Service, September 14, 2004
In his speech at the meeting Sergei Mitrokhin said, “Why, have all the authorities, the President can not suspend from office an open criminal? Putin must demonstrate the force he enjoys and restore justice in Bashkiria!”

Russian Who Killed Chechen May Get a Pardon
By Sophia Kishkovsky, The New York Times, September 18, 2004
Vladimir Lukin, Russia's human rights ombudsman, told Interfax by telephone from Athens that he would recommend that Mr. Putin be cautious about approving the pardon.

Human rights commissioner against the pardoning of Budanov
Interfax, September 17, 2004
"I can say only one thing here. Naturally, as human rights commissioner, I am inclined to support humane solutions on any issues. And if an individual repents for his crime and truly changes, he has to be pardoned..."

Russians admit airliner bombing blunder
By Andrew Osborn in Moscow, Independent, September 17, 2004
Russian security forces were facing further criticism last night after it was revealed that the two female Chechen suicide bombers who destroyed two planes in August with the loss of 90 lives had been detained and released hours beforehand.

Russian President Moves to Strengthen Kremlin's Grip on Power in Wake of Terrorist Attacks
The Associated Press, September 14, 2004
"Today, all the power agencies that are supposed to fight terrorism are subordinated directly to the president. ... It's incomprehensible why on top of that he has to name governors," Sergei Mitrokhin, a leading member of the liberal Yabloko faction, told Russia's Ekho Moskvy radio. "It shows that the president doesn't know what to do, he's at a loss."

The Russian Democratic Party YABLOKO will conduct a protest action demanding resignation of the head of the interior of Bashkortostan Rafail Divayev by the building of the Interior Ministry of the RF on September 14, 2004 at 12-00.
Press release, September 13, 2004
Bashkortostan human rights activists and victims of the militia arbitrary rule in the republic who have come to Moscow for the action will make public the new flagrant facts of the violation of constitutional human rights and corruption in the structures of the interior ministry in Bashkortostan.

State Duma Elections 2007 - new

Act of Terror in Beslan - updated

Dark Age, Putin Gambles on Raw Power
By Steven Lee Myers, New York Times, September 19, 2004
"All this period of time was called democracy," Mr. Yavlinsky said in an interview. "The people looked at it and said, 'If that is democracy, then, thank you very much.' " But he added, angrily: "All these things had nothing in common with democracy. It was Potemkin democracy."

Antifascist-minded elements
By Oleg Kashin, Kommersant, September 17, 2004
Protesters held placards reading "Putin is a Usurper!", "Putin, Resign!" and photos of Putin made to look like Adolf Hitler. They also glued leaflets with excerpts from the Constitution to the fence around the Prosecutor General's office and threw paper planes made from pages of the Constitution into the building's yard.

What Happened to Russia?
By Grigory Yavlinsky, Kommersant, September 17, 2004
Terrorists' acts leading to deaths of innocent, and unarmed people, children and women have no justification whatsoever either political, or moral, or religious, or ideological.

Governors are happy
By Olga Proskurnina, Yulia Bushuyeva and Svetlana Petrova, Vedomosti, September 14, 2004
"This way, under the pretext of another terrorist attack we may come to abolishing presidential and parliamentary elections," said the deputy chairman of YABLOKO Sergei Mitrokhin.

On the measures proposed by the President of the RF at the expanded meeting of the Cabinet
The Russian Democratic Party YABLOKO, Statement, YABLOKO's press-service, September 13, 2004
As the President virtually completely controls the regional authorities today, the legislative decision to appoint the heads of the regions without changing anything in essence, marks a step to revise the Constitution of Russia.

On the threat of liquidation of the system of federalism in Russia
Statement by the chairman of the Moscow branch of the Russian Democratic Party YABLOKO Sergei Mitrokhin, YABLOKO's press-service, September 13, 2004
It liquidates the last chain in the system of checks and counterbalances that prevent power from being concentrated in the hands of one individual.

A Tragedy of Beslan
A complete text of Grigory Yavlinsky's interview published in a contracted version by Interfax, Interfax, September 6, 2004
"We insist on immediate resignation of the chiefs of the security, the interior and the defence ministries, creation of a parliamentary commission on the investigation of the events in Beslan, and direct public dialogue with the President on the problems of security, the policies on Chechnya and Caucasus in general."

Sergei Ivanenko: three reasons are currently hampering the formation of fully-fledged independent parties
Radio Mayak, September 15, 2004
Nobody is asking the Kremlin for any support: we are simply asking for the creation of normal conditions: then parties will develop and will win in competition.

The Duma Under Control
By Yana Serova, Novaya Gazeta, September 2, 2004
Amendments to electoral laws essentially mean a one-party system in Russia

We will have transparent elections some day
By Alexandra Samarina, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, September 1, 2004
The Committee-2008 appeals to the Supreme Court to cancel the results of the 2003 Duma campaign. Liberals say they have got several thousands of proofs that 2003 vote was not free.

The Central Electoral Commission says more women should run in parliamentary elections.
ITAR-TASS, August 31, 2004
Central Electoral Commission member Yelena Dubrovina, a representative of the YABLOKO party, put forth the proposal during the discussion on electoral legislation changes at the meeting on Tuesday.

Act of Terror in Beslan - new

YABLOKO protests against Putin's crackdown on Democracy
Gazeta.ru, September 16, 2004
Protesters held placards reading "Putin is a Usurper!", "Putin, Resign!" and photos of Putin made to look like Adolf Hitler. The rally, organized by YABLOKO, was sanctioned by the authorities.

Protesters' turnout matched by journalists at Moscow anti-Putin rally
Ekho Moskvi radio station, September 16, 2004
Deputy Chairman of YABLOKO Sergei Mitrokhin, who headed the Yabloko representation at the rally, said this is a head-on power takeover and Russian citizens are being deprived of their right to vote. The Federation Council and Prosecutor-General's Office should prevent this, he said.

Russia's Peripheral Liberalism
By Lilia Shevtsova, FOREIGN POLICY, September/October 2004
Yavlinsky first emerged as a promising young deputy prime minister in Russia's first post-Soviet government in 1990, under then President Boris Yeltsin. In a bold and rare move, he later left the government voluntarily and led his pro-democratic opposition Yabloko party into the Duma (Russian parliament), where he spent a decade storming the barricades of Russia's soft authoritarian rule.

Alexei Arbatov questions sense in Putin's reform plans
Ekho Moskvi radio station, September 16, 2004
Arbatov criticized the increased centralization of power at the expense of other branches of government. He said that Russia had been following "this path for the last four years and the terrorism situation has been getting worse and worse and worse". Arbatov said that Russia should go in the other direction and increase control over security structures.

Putin overhauls political system
CNN, September 14, 2004
Curiously, however, the Russian leader's proposals focused largely on electoral changes. Putin said he would propose legislation abolishing the election of local governors by popular vote. Instead they would be nominated by the president and confirmed by local legislatures.

State Duma election results to be questioned at Supreme Court
Interfax, September 13, 2004
"Lawyers of the Independent Election Institute, the Communist Party and Yabloko drafted a lawsuit to be filed at the Russian Supreme Court, and Committee 2008 sponsored the drafting. I think we will file the lawsuit at the end of this week," Yabloko Deputy Chairman Sergei Mitrokhin told Interfax on Monday.

Human Rights Ombudsman Urges Moderation in Response to Beslan Crisis
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, September 13, 2004
Lukin compared the atmosphere in Russia today with what happened in the United States following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks.

Putin Faces His Biggest Challenge So Far
By Catherine Belton, St Peterburg Times, September 10, 2004
"If you have a system that has no independent sources of information, no independent parliament, no independent justice, or even any independent business, then you have a system that is very fragile," said Grigory Yavlinsky, a former presidential candidate and leader of the liberal Yabloko party. "This is a system that is not only dangerous to people but also to Putin."

Putin: Scrap Popular Vote for Governors
By Nabi Abdullaev, The Moscow Times, September 14, 2004
"The abolition of elections in Russian regions deals a blow to the foundations of Russian federalism and means the return to an extremely inefficient system of government," Sergei Mitrokhin, a senior official in the liberal Yabloko party, said in a statement.

Putin moves to tighten powers to combat terror
The Associated Press, September 13, 2004
"Tuesday, all the power agencies that are supposed to fight terrorism are subordinated directly to the president. ... It's incomprehensible why on top of that he has to name governors," Mitrokhin, of the liberal Yabloko party, told Russia's Ekho Moskvy radio. "It shows that the president doesn't know what to do, he's at a loss."

Mixed reaction from Russian party leaders to Putin's political proposals
ITAR-TASS, September 13, 2004
Grigory Yavlinsky, leader of the Yabloko party, thinks that the president's plan to take control of regional gubernatorial elections is "anticonstitutional". In an official statement, he said the plan was "insulting" to the people of Russia.

Putin asserts control after school siege
By Oleg Shchedrov, Reuters, September 13, 2004
"The last link in the system of checks and balances, which has prevented an excessive concentration of power in one pair of hands, is being abolished," the opposition party Yabloko said in a statement.

Putin to Blame?
BBC, September 10, 2004
Grigory Yavlinsky blames the Kremlin for what happened during the siege which has left at least 353 people dead.

International Anti-terror coalition - updated

Russia Echoes US on Terror, but Means Are Limited
AFP, September 12, 2004
"There have been no attacks in the United States since September 11 because America learned the lesson," Mitrokhin said.

Putin should resign
By Boris Vishnevsky, Specially for the YABLOKO site, September 8, 2004
The constitution declares the president as "guarantor of the rights and liberties of men and citizens". The president failed to guarantee to the citizens of our country main of these rights - the right to life. He was able guarantee them only the right to fear.

War in Chechnya (1996-2003) - updated

After the tragedy in Beslan
By Grigory Yavlinsky, www.yavlinsky.ru, September 6, 2004
The authorities should take three steps, which can be broken down into three areas. Economic: the people must have normal jobs, incomes and living conditions. Military: the local habitants should be able to trust the actions carried out to capture the bandits... Political: it is necessary to involve as many Chechens as possible in the discussion of developments in Chechnya...

Freedom of Speech and Media Law in Russia - updated

The Changing Nature of Covering the News
The Moscow Times, September 7, 2004
As a class, information-sharing Duma deputies have largely been pushed out. They were important because their status as a federal official gave them access to official information otherwise out of reach for the public or the press. Now Putin has a largely rubber-stamp parliament that rarely raises its voice.

We express our deep sympathy to the families and relatives of the victims of the tragedy in Beslan

Grigory Yavlinsky, September 5, 2004

We are grieving deeply over the tragedy in Beslan. What happened there is the most terrible thing imaginable, as all parents understand. We are not able to alleviate your pain: we can only share your sorrow.

Grigory Yavlinsky

What Happened to Anna Politkovskaya
By Sergey Sokolov and Dmitry Muratov, NovayaGazeta.Ru, September 4, 2004
At time of these tragic days hundreds of our colleagues, state officials and readers expressed their concern about the fate of our observer Anna Politkovskaya. They believed that her presence at Beslan could have proved useful. However, Politkovskaya did not reach Beslan.

The YABLOKO Party Points to a Crisis in the Security System in the Russian Federation
Press release, September 2, 2004
"We became the object of terrorists for one reason only - our state cannot protect its citizens. The authorities pursue a policy, which sharply increases the danger of terrorist acts. This course should be considered irresponsible..."

Condolences to the victims of the explosion at the Rizhskaya metro station on August, 31
The Russian Democratic Party YABLOKO expresses its sincere condolences to all victims of the explosion on August 31, 2004 at the Rizhskaya metro station. There can be no justifications to terrorism. Power measures play an essential and necessary role in the struggle against terrorism. The authorities should do their utmost to prevent new tragedies. But the main thing is the strength of mind of the people. We must win through.
Chairman of the YABLOKO party Grigory Yavlinsky

Suit to Challenge Duma Elections
The Moscow Times, September 2, 2004
The liberal group Committee 2008: Free Choice is planning to file a lawsuit next week with the Supreme Court over the results of last year's parliamentary elections, which the group claims are invalid.