Mother of ‘tortured’ Russian targeted
The Express on Sunday
THE mother of an anti-corruption lawyer allegedly tortured to death in a Moscow jail has been harassed at her home by Kremlinfriendly journalists. The claim was made last week by Jamison Firestone, the former business partner of late father-of-two Sergei Magnitsky.
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From top to bottom, how corruption infects Russia
The claims made in the WikiLeaks cables come as no surprise to Shaun Walker.
Everywhere you look in Russia, there are stories of corruption, whether it’s a traffic policeman shaking down a motorist for a few pounds, or a businessman complaining that top-ranking government officials demanded millions of pounds in kickbacks or bribes. So the allegations contained in WikiLeaks’ US diplomatic cables originating in Moscow are not that surprising to anyone who knows the country well.
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An American in Exile From Moscow – Browder’s tale is a warning to the West.
Had you asked Stalin about Earl Browder, he would have snorted in derision. Ask Putin about Bill Browder, and the reaction will be the same. The Browder family’s tortured relationship with Russian leaders is worthy of a Ken Follett novel.
Earl Browder was the leader of the Communist Party USA in the 1930s and during World War II. A Stalin worshiper, he wielded immense influence in the trade-union movement, which grew in power as America’s war machine sucked in millions of industrial workers. During the years of the Hitler-Stalin pact, Browder was a class warrior opposing the “imperialist” war between Britain and Germany. With the Soviet and American entry into the war in 1941, he used his communist machine to lash U.S. workers into heroic feats of output. But as the wartime love-in between Stalin and Roosevelt turned into U.S.-Soviet rivalry and the Cold War, Browder was dismissed by Stalin for not understanding quickly enough the change in line. Instead he and his son, Felix, a brilliant mathematician, fell victim to McCarthyism, living shrunken lives in the anticommunist hysteria of the 1950s.
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‘A COUNTRY RUN BY GANGSTERS’
The Daily Express
Along with the crushing disappointment that followed the announcement that Russia and not England will host the 2018 World Cup, it was impossible to silence another sentiment: the Russians bought it. World Cup host Russia has, it’s alleged, a Mafia that controls politics and police, and hitmen ensure there’s a rule of fear.
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Is Russia a ‘mafia state’?
The latest batch of secret US embassy cables published by the Wikileaks website reveals fears about links between the Russian government and organised crime.
In one confidential document, US diplomats in Madrid record a top Spanish judge, who has experience in organised crime cases, describing Russia as a “virtual mafia state”.
BBC Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis asked the former British ambassador to Moscow, Sir Tony Brenton and Anders Aslund, a former economic adviser to the Russian government, whether there is evidence to suggest a link between organised crime and the Russian government. быстрые займы на карту быстрые займы онлайн https://zp-pdl.com/fast-and-easy-payday-loans-online.php https://www.zp-pdl.com быстрые займы онлайн
A Crackdown on Kleptocrats – The law is catching up with Russia’s corrupt oligarchs
The Spectator
Moscow’s White House is a fairly pleasing pile, at least by the standards of late Soviet architecture. Its colonnaded white stone facade enjoys handsome views over the Moscow River, and its interiors are a symphony in green malachite, light teak and gold ormolu, a mid-1990s decorating style best described as mafia rococo.
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A Year Later, No Charges In Magnitsky Death As EU Mulls Visa Bans
It has been more than a year since Hermitage Capital Management lawyer Sergei Magnitsky died in prison, but it will be at least another three months before Russian officials are prepared to make any definitive statements about it.
The investigation into Magnitsky’s Nov. 16, 2009, death in one of Moscow’s most notorious jails has been extended until Feb. 24. Magnitsky, who was awaiting trial on tax evasion charges, alleged before his death that he was tortured and denied adequate medical care—and that Russian authorities were seeking to pressure him into withdrawing allegations of fraud directed at the country’s interior ministries and into implicating Hermitage founder William Browder.
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Promises, Promises
The Moscow Times
It must be nice to be president. Could you imagine if every half hour Ekho Moskvy radio announced, instead of the news: “Tomorrow at this time you’ll be able to hear the news on this station. We’ve set a goal and a plan: to provide you the news. It’ll be incredible. Amazing. Fantastic. The world’s best. And, don’t forget, tomorrow. We promise.” How long could that continue before everyone stopped listening to Ekho Moskvy?
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Magnitsky Deserves Justice
VOA News.com
This month marks the one-year anniversary of the death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died from apparent medical neglect after 12 months in pre-trial detention.
In 2008, Mr. Magnitsky implicated Russian officials in what he called a massive scheme to defraud the government of $230 million. Authorities arrested Mr. Magnitsky and accused him and his client, Hermitage Capital, of evading taxes. According to Mr. Magnitsky, investigators and prison officials pressured him to withdraw his complaint and testify against Hermitage Capital. He refused to cooperate and was subsequently transferred from one Moscow prison to another with worse conditions. After being denied medical attention for pancreatic problems and enduring what human rights activists have described as torturous conditions for almost a year, Sergei Magnitsky died November 16th, 2009.
