The blog of Navalny in English

Over 50% But The Judge From The Republic Of Udmyrtia Isn’t Bothered Yet

Fri, 24 May 2013 08:46:37 GMT

Way to go! We’ve risen above 50%.

[The text: Voting will finish on 05.04.2014.
To have the initiative considered at the federal level, 49 416 more votes are needed.
Against: 173 votes]

From here: https://www.roi.ru/poll/petition/gosudarstvennoe_upravlenie1/zapret-chinovnikam-i-sotrudnikam-kompanij-s-gosudarstvennym-munitcipalnym-uchastiem-priobetat-legkovye-avtomobili-stoimostyu-svyshe-15-millionov-rublej/

Thanks very much to all those who have already voted.

I inform those of you who haven’t voted yet that after RosPil’s complaint and my post, that the Kaluga regional court have reconsidered their decision to buy a limousine. However the Udmurt Republican court is going to buy an Audi Q7 for 3 million rubles [$96,000].

[A screen shot of the Government Purchases webpage]

http://zakupki.gov.ru/pgz/public/action/orders/info/common_info/show?notificationId=6129587

We’ll all be pitching in to buy a 100,000 dollar car for a regional judge, but the blame lies solely with you – those who haven’t voted.

You’re lazy and do not believe in personal civil responsibility combined with effective collective action.

Unless you can spare ten minutes to register at the State Services website and vote, judges like the ones from Udmurtia will drive past you, grinning and thinking, “What wonderful sheep these people are, a godsend: dumb and obedient, and lazy as well”.

And let me remind those who don’t consider themselves to be lazy: it’s necessary to promote this website created specially for you to vote.

Originally posted by navalny on May. 23rd, 2013 at 3:43 PM

Trolling the Troll

Thu, 23 May 2013 01:17:40 GMT

Today in court, the governor of Kirov region, Nikita Belykh, took the stand as a "prosecution witness."

Then (and now, while I am writing this post) he continued his "familiarization with the written evidence" - prosecutors read out the very same payments, whose existence they deny.
I cannot say that this is too thrilling.

At the same time, outside of the courtroom, our epic battle for the right to say and write the words "Putin is a Thief" continues.

As usual, in the morning near our Agitation Cube, today dedicated to the United Russia member from Miami, Vladimir Pekhtin, we unfurled this forbidden banner

[Picture: “Putin is a Thief”].

Police immediately seized the banner in the same way that I have described in detail.

In response, we are now doing a very simple thing: we are writing "Putin is a Thief" on the pavement with the chalk that children use.

[Picture: “Putin is a Thief”]

Yesterday and the day before yesterday, our asymmetric action caused a commotion in the camp of the police and their colleagues in civilian clothes.
What now, pavement removal?

It's not paint, chalk washes off after any rain or is removed by just two hours of foot traffic.
But we have a lot of chalk and are constantly redoing our markings.

So what to do?

Today, the city administration has come up with an answer:

Inspector Igor Shagalov of the Pervomaisky district of Kirov arrived and, in all seriousness, formulated the protocol regarding "damage to city property from writing with chalk on the asphalt."
In answer to the question, "when children draw with chalk on the pavement, it is also an offense?" he calmly replied, "of course, if a minor is seen drawing with chalk on the pavement, then he will be arrested, and his case will be referred to the commission for minors."

One minor was committing this malicious offense right at that very moment,

But we did not have the nerve to demand that he be brought to justice, and so he escaped safely after his "damage to city property."

Ok.
The mayor of Kirov decided to formally troll us.

We are ready to play this game.
By way of formal demands with a straight face and the phrase "these are your problems, by law you are required to resolve them" - I love this approach.

Kirov is known, in part, for its simply monstrous roads.

The roads in the center of town are full of holes of such a size that, after it rains, a lake forms where ducks live and beavers have been seen a couple of times.
Any trench or dugout would envy the depth and size of the road pits in Kirov.

For some reason, inspector Igor Shagalov doesn’t notice these holes at all and quickly dismisses them, instead heading to inspect our harmless chalk lettering on the pavement.

Meanwhile, as we all remember, any damage to the road surface (or sidewalk), exceeding the size specified by the national standard should be fully resolved within 5 days.

It was exactly for this that our project RosYama [Russia’s Road Pit] was designed.

Now, as I write this post, three mobile teams, formed from volunteers, are documenting all the road holes in Kirov that violate national standards.

[Pictures and a screenshot of a website where you can upload to a map of Kirov pictures and descriptions of road holes]

And there are REALLY A LOT of them here, believe me.

This evening, we will provide no less than one hundred formal complaints to the traffic police and the city administration, with the demand that these violations be corrected within a period of five days.

That is, just in time for the next court hearing.
If they cannot fix these violations, then those responsible must be brought to trial for each unresolved case, which we will be very active in demanding (this is something that RosYama is able to do very well).

Further, if the pits are not repaired properly, then we will, after five days, file a lawsuit against the Kirov city administration for its inaction and neglect of duties.

No joke. By the way, one in five road accidents in Russia happen because of poor road conditions.
Since the beginning of this year, 164,000 road accidents have already occurred, in which 22,000 people have died.

The fight against road pits will require the effective spending of the billions of rubles that have been allocated for the maintenance of the road network – a service that the state owes every responsible citizen.

We thank the mayor of Kirov for reminding us of this.

I hope that they do a good job in the next five days.

~~We ask that the municipal administration give inspector Igor Shagalova a personalized bucket of asphalt.~~

Update.
Bonus: This is the condition of a manhole that is located on the roadway Karl Liebknecht, which is the same street where the Kirov regional government building is located:

Originally posted by navalny on May. 22nd, 2013 at 3:01 PM

Translated by Contentious Politics Russia Blog

We Have Deprived the Kaluga Regional Judges of Their Audis

Wed, 22 May 2013 00:20:01 GMT

After my post about the Kaluga judges, who just cannot live without their 4.5 million ruble [~$144,000] Audis, we, of course, also filed a formal complaint about this.

Now, RosPil is able to report the following news:

1. The court itself voluntarily canceled the purchase immediately after the post (we approve such a decision).

2. Our complaint was, nevertheless, still considered by the Federal Antimonopoly Agency and was recognized as valid:

[Screen shot showing filed complaint, which has been recognized as valid]

This is good news.

The bad news is that state officials are buying expensive luxury cars every day.
RosPil cannot trace and appeal everything.

Further, we cannot appeal car purchases by state corporations and state-owned companies of which we are not aware.

And again, the good news:

Instead of being lazy, we will collect one hundred thousand signatures in support of a bill banning the purchase of vehicles more expensive than 1.5 million rubles [~$48,000] for state officials and employees of state-owned corporations. This will oblige the Duma to bring this issue to a vote.

And then RosPil will not have to run around and try to appeal the purchase of every individual Mercedes.

Of course, PosPil will run around for as long as is necessary, but if by working together we can act more effectively and try to change the law, then why ignore such an opportunity?

~~This is the 128th call to civic responsibility.~~

Do not forget to share this link in your social networks.

PS
RosPil and the Foundation for Fighting Corruption exist by way of your donations. If you share our ideas, support our struggle and have (not your last) 600 rubles, then donate here:

[Donation Box]

Originally posted by navalny on May. 20th, 2013 at 8:02 PM

Translated by Contentious Politics Russia Blog

... Titanium Now Belongs To "Pootie-Patootie” And “The Superintendent”

Tue, 21 May 2013 23:32:09 GMT

Titanium Does Not Belong To The State Any More. Titanium Now Belongs To "Pootie-Patootie” And “The Superintendent”

The most boring part of the court hearing in connection with the shocking and super-heinous case of the Kirovles Company has begun in Kirov city court – the prosecutors are now reading the long history about how my case was first initiated, then annulled, and then re-opened again. Meanwhile, please read the coolest article about a small, inconspicuous issue.

How Putin’s Friend Took Control of the Titanium Monopolist and Privatised It

Well, it’s rather a trifling story.
It’s about nothing more than two friends, “Pootie-Patootie” and “The Superintendent”, who got their greedy mitts on the world’s largest titanium producer, the VSMPO-AVISMA State Corporation, under the pretext of security and defence of state interests.

Thus, some modest 36-year old managers cash in on all these splendid customers:

[The text: Buyers of Titanium from the VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation: Boeing, Airbus, Rolls Royce, PowerJet, etc.]

But don’t think that "Pootie-Patootie” and “The Superintendent” helped these guys. They did everything solely on their own wits, plus they hit the jackpot – everything somehow got privatised all by itself, and all of a sudden the former managers found themselves as the titanium company’s new owners.

Tellingly, there were no criminal cases or investigations.
Employees of the Urals wagon works [Putin’s alleged passionate supporters] keep mum about it. Putin’s All-Russia People’s Front political movement aren’t the least bit worried about it.
Members of the United Russia party don’t gawk during TV talk shows, “THEY’VE ROBBED THE COUNTRY! “
The Audit Chamber doesn’t conduct an audit.
Spokesman for the Investigative Committee, Major General Markin, in his blue military jacket with gold epaulettes, refuses to comment on the titanium affair.
The High Council Board of the United Russia party remains unchanged.

[The text: Sergey Chemezov, Chairman of the Association of Engineers’ Board, Managing Director of Rostechnologies State Corp.]
http://er.ru/persons/31/

Everything is OK, secretly and securely guarded by FSB [the Federal Security Service].
Money likes silence.

PS.
And I suggest you disseminate the article.

Originally posted by navalny on May. 20th, 2013 at 3:03 PM

Two Days in Court and the Hunt for "Putin Is A Thief"

Sat, 18 May 2013 00:33:24 GMT

I was in court on trial for two more days.

The process is proceeding just as before: those summoned for court examination, "the witnesses of the prosecution," all, one after the other, deny the arguments of the prosecution.
During the last two days, even the witness who earlier gave false testimony (the same goody - Vyacheslav Opalev's [the crown witness for the prosecution] Deputy, who I called bad words in the "taping"), has been denying the arguments of the prosecution. When asked the direct question, "was 16 million rubles [$510,000] worth of timber or 16 million rubles embezzled?" she stared at the prosecutor in amazement and said: well, of course not, that is absurd.

You can confirm all of this for yourself by watching video of the trial or reading transcripts of the key moments:

Day 5 video: http://rapsinews.ru/judicial_mm/20130515/267341816.html
Day 5 online transcript in English: http://www.rapsinews.com/judicial_news/20130514/267345058.html

Day 6 video: http://rapsinews.ru/judicial_mm/20130516/267375124.html
Day 6 online transcript in English: http://www.rapsinews.com/judicial_news/20130515/267378914.html

Court hearing on May 15:

- You gave an interview here and called my case politically motivated. The director of forestry, having learned about the case, gathered everyone for a good laugh - Navalny reminded the Podosinovsky forestry director, Natalia Koretnyuk.
- This is my personal opinion - she specified. - Also we did not laugh about this, but simply got together and discussed it. Well, that is a common practice, each worker has 15-20 clients, some who are a little more expensive, some a little cheaper.
- So this is political persecution? - Navalny said.
- Please remove this question! - said the prosecutor, rising from his seat.
- I would also very much like to ask about that - Koretnyuk turned to judge Blinov.
http://lenta.ru/articles/2013/05/15/navalny/

Court hearing on May 16:

On Thursday, the Leninsky District Court of Kirov called a key prosecution witness in the case of opposition leader Alexey Navalny. Navlany is accused, along with the former director of the Vyatka Forest Company (VLK) Peter Ofitserov, of embezzling 16.5 million rubles from "Kirovles." Former deputy director of the state enterprise Larisa Bastrygina, in contrast to previous witnesses, had prepared well and confidently and clearly set forth the prosecution's case. However, after a three-hour interrogation at the hands of Navalny, Bastrygina repeated the phrase that most of the witnesses in this case have previously uttered: "I do not remember exactly."
http://www.gazeta.ru/politics/2013/05/16_a_5324533.shtml (in Russian)
http://www.interpretermag.com/witnesses-for-the-prosecution-surprise-navalny/ (in English)

Photo Galleries by Evgeny Feldman of "Novaya Gazeta":
May 15: http://www.novayagazeta.ru/photos/58128.html
May 16: http://www.novayagazeta.ru/photos/58136.html

Outside the courthouse, life was also eventful.

[Sign: “For Navalny”]

The Kirov city police, burning up in the summer heat, started the commotion, and it was obvious they were following constant but conflicting orders from Moscow.

As I wrote, every day that my trial is held in Kirov, there is a permanent picket organized around the slogan "Putin is a Thief."
Previously, we have issued information about "Putin Billionaires" Timchenko and Rotenberg.
This time we focused on Olympic embezzlement.

At first, the Kirov police did not care at all about the picket. The picket was allowed and they just stood by and kept order. That is, they did what they are supposed to do.

Then came angry orders from Moscow: No "Putin is a Thief"! That is not allowed!

Well, what did the police do? The picket is permitted, it is forbidden to disperse it.

And in Kirov they have know-how: there is a citizen there (we don’t know yet whether he is real or bogus) who, several times a day, writes a statement to the police about extremism.

[Sign: “Alexey Navalny HQ”]

The police assigned an operational investigative group to "inspect gathering places" and take away "for examination" everything that says "Putin is a Thief."

Thus, they have seized "for examination" 100,000 copies of a newspaper, which was intended for each mailbox in the city.

They will return everything, but only in a couple of months after examination.
About the newspapers, I will write in detail separately. I have an idea on the subject.

[Picture, “Putin is afraid of Navalny”]

It was very funny to watch the removal of the banner, "Putin is a Thief."

Every time it was unfurled, a "team of investigators" arrived in 15 minutes.
Everything is was as it should be, a few people, an expert with the suitcase.

They took notes. Measured the banner with a ruler, carried out seizure protocol and took it away:

The guys on the picket then pulled out a new banner and it started all over again.

One day, the police removed a banner 6 times.

Well ok, ok.
As Lyudmila Prokofevna said in the movie "Office Romance": Our paper industry is working perfectly.

PS
I want to take this opportunity to once again thank everyone who comes out to support my trial from other cities and the remarkable Kirov people who come on foot.

Originally posted by navalny on May. 17th, 2013 at 3:07 PM

Translated by Contentious Politics Russia Blog

Frequency Of Mention: “Toad” – 15 Times

Wed, 15 May 2013 21:53:50 GMT

... “viper” – 18 times, “white pony” – 1 time, "double-dealer" - 48 times, “teaching a bear to smoke” – 1 time.

If you thought you'd only find these words used with such frequency in an interview given by the senior editor of a children’s magazine about animals, you'd be mistaken.

In fact, they appear in my enormous interview published on the RBK [RosBusiness Consulting media group] news web portal.

http://top.rbc.ru/viewpoint/14/05/2013/857422.shtml

You’ll find absolutely everything there.
From Konstantin Lebedev and Ilya Ponomarev, to whether Vladislav Surkov will attend any protest rallies.
From participation in regional elections to ”Stop feeding the Caucasus”.
From Lee Kuan Yew to Valentina Poneyad and Isolda Menshova.

And after you finish reading and sigh with relief, “Oh, what an endless interview!”, you’ll realise with horror that it’s only the first part.

The interview is so long that even the RBK had to divide it. Here’s Part 2.

I’m sure the RBK’s artist portrayed me like this because he went mad having to read the whole interview right up to the end.

Read it while I’m off to Kirov city, to the Leninsky district court, back to my cosy little prisoner's dock, again. Tomorrow the court session is set to resume after the adjournment

Originally posted by navalny on May. 14th, 2013 at 6:01 PM

Refusals And Searches. Polizisten And The Kommandantur

Tue, 14 May 2013 09:43:21 GMT

I decided not to write about this on May 9 [Victory Day which commemorates the victory over Nazi Germany in 1945].
It didn't turn out very well at all: on the eve of Victory Day, Polizisten turned up unexpectedly to raid and search Russian citizens and to confiscate leaflets calling for a stop to the occupation and plunder of this country.

Lots of people read about it in the media. It went like this: on the night (!) of May 8/9, our headquarters in Kirov city were searched. About ten policemen and investigators arrived in response to an unnamed citizen’s request to check if we have extremist stuff there.

On this pretext, they counted and confiscated ALL propaganda materials kept in our office. Mainly, newspapers and leaflets about various Putin’s thieves, such as Rotenberg and Timchenko.

Although, according to law, in order to review a leaflet for extremism, all that’s necessary is to take a single copy and submit it for examination. Provided it contains elements of extremism, of course.

So I don’t fully understand why they would confiscate ALL the leaflets/ newspapers (it’s actually someone else’s property, by the way) without a court order and expert advice.

What would happen if a citizen reported that there was extremist stuff at the United Russia Party headquarters? Would the Investigative Committee turn up and confiscate everything, I wonder?

There were volunteers at our Kirov office at the time; they broadcast the search and confiscation live, and several thousand people watched it throughout the night.

On the one hand, it was pretty hilarious to watch the investigator and field officers count the leaflets one by one: “two hundred and forty three, two hundred and forty four, two hundred and forty five”.
On the other hand, it was shameful and a disgrace: on Victory Day’s eve when all the cops were up to their necks in work, and the number of hellraisers and other crimes were increasing, these ten lazyboots were busy counting flyers.

That’s the reason why we look so longingly at the tables such as this one:

I don't get why we maintain this army of parasites, nor why they are so busy?
Because they’re engaged in a crappy job: wherever they see the phrase “Putin is a thief”, they rush in, ten of them in a bunch, and start counting leaflets.

So I’d like to take this occasion to give my regards to all the volunteers at our office in Kirov, and to the activists carrying out their important and necessary mission all over the country.

[The text in the World War II times’ poster reads, “Glory to the heroic guerrillas disrupting the fascists’ rearguard!”]

And in other news about the “vile and disgusting antics of the occupying authorities and thieves of all sorts”:

Despite all the babble on the zombie box that nowadays political parties can be easily registered, ~~the Occupying Kommandantur~~ the Ministry of Justice has suspended the registration of one of the few truly independent parties – the People’s Alliance.

Leonid Volkov has written about it in detail here, and here you can find a detailed analysis of the legal relevance of the refusal.

Roughly speaking, the Ministry of Justice have gleaned the misprints throughout all of the 2,000 pages submitted for registration. [...]

At the same time, the Ministry do register all sorts of minor fake parties, by the dozen.
Look at these advocates of social justice, for example.

[The text reads:
left, “The All-Russia Political Party For Justice!”
right, “The Political Party of Social Defence”.

It's the same address and the same people involved. They’ve changed only one word in their charter and have held their bogus “paper” congresses, and the Ministry of Justice is right on cue ready to stamp it with “YOUR GENUINE PARTY IS REGISTERED”.

They’ve created 65 such parties so far, of which, at best, only ten have at least 100 real supporters.

Please note the astonishing funds the parties draw from the budget. Hardly anybody has ever considered the fact that we are all supporting these guys at our own expense. Very impressive.

Of course, the People’s Alliance will correct the printing mistakes and re-issue all the documentation, even though it will require another congress and a bagful of extra expenses.
It’s also clear that the swindlers at the Ministry of Justice were simply following orders from the Kremlin goons to not register the People’s Alliance in May so as to stop them from running in the autumn election.
First of all, it concerns Yekaterinburg city where the Alliance is strongly entrenched while United Russia is having a tough time: in the latest parliamentary election they received only 25% of the vote.

But never mind. The main thing is real political work rather than pinning deputies’ badges on each other’s jackets. And the real political work in Yekaterinburg is to slam United Russia and all sorts of Putin’s bogus “Fronts”.

And to give the bum’s rush to the fake “working people”; United Russia’s establishment who have merely changed colours.

The debarring of the People’s Alliance from the elections in Yekaterinburg will be yet another reason for its citizens to vote and act against the Party of Crooks and Thieves.

And we’ll find candidates worth our electoral support. There are good people living in this city, a good many of them.

Originally posted by navalny on May. 13th, 2013 at 1:04 PM

Yesterday’s Rally

Wed, 08 May 2013 05:14:14 GMT

Good on all those who came.
An enormous amount of people attended the rally even though it was a weekday evening. It was nice to see you.

My speech:

[Alexey Navalny’s speech translated into English on the interpretermag.com]

My thanks to Oleg Kozyrev who videoed it http://youtu.be/O_kSSJR8TsQ

The weather was rather cold and somebody performed Hindu dances onstage to keep warm:

Photo: Yevgeny Feldman. From here.

And some people wore special warm sweaters with secret runic writing.

Regrettably, almost nothing could be heard from about 50 metres away from the stage, especially as a number of very rational and important speeches were delivered there. For example, here’s the typewritten speech by the writer, Boris Akunin, who appealed to well-known people "in good standing", urging them to stop collaborating with this government of thieves.

As for the journalist, Oleg Kashin, his singing was extraordinary. You can watch the video, indeed, but as they say after the particularly successful performances by celebrities, “you had to hear it live”. Or better still, to see the faces of those present when Kashin broke into the song.

Somewhere at the back, people were holding a giant inflatable saw symbolising the reason why the Kremlin ragtags’ government exists*.

Yesterday I was happy to be among people who had no fear of openly challenging the Kremlin’s ragtags and their giant saw.

Update:
The saw at yesterday’s rally:

Originally posted by navalny on May. 7th, 2013 at 11:02 AM

*Translator’s note:
The Russian idiom “to saw the budget/money” means “to steal money on kickbacks”, and is associated with corruption.

You Know Where, You Know When

Tue, 07 May 2013 05:48:58 GMT

I’m not sure I can add anything new to all those wonderful posts about the reasons why each of us cannot stay at home today.

From Boris Akunin to Yevgeny Roizman. From Tatiana Lazareva to Mikhail Gelfand. From this one to that one..

I can only add an extremely original idea of mine that life is always a battle between good and evil.
With good inevitably victorious in the end.

Just yesterday we all celebrated Easter and commemorated the paramount victory of this kind in human history.

Everything will pass, the skies will clear, and everything will be all right.

Slaves will be free.
The Russians will liquidate the Mongol Yoke.
The Polizisten serving the fascists (the forebears of Bastrykin & Co.) will be hung.
Colonial invaders will be driven away.
Little Gerda will be victorious over the Snow Queen.
Elektronic will defeat Urrie and Stump.
Alisa will win back her myelophone.
Fair trials and responsible, electable governments will emerge in Russia. The country’s natural wealth and other resources will serve the entire population, not be stolen by a few feudal families as it is now.

The thing is that we’ll have to pay a price for the triumph of good.
Before the partisans hanged the police goons, the goons had their relatives taken hostage and shot. And the partisans had to live in the woods and sleep for years in the snow.
The oppressors of freedom fighters were executed, and little Gerda made a dangerous journey all alone, and even fell into the clutches of pirates.

Now for the good news: at the present stage of the development of mankind, in this part of our planet, the price for 99.99% of us is no longer as high as before.
Roman warriors won’t poke you with their sharp spears.
No one will cut the soles of your feet and put grass inside to stop you from escaping to your native Karakorum .
No one will tuck you inside a tricky magnetic suitcase, like Elektronic.

But you’ll definitely have to pay a price.
You can pay it right now – if you turn from a sympathiser to a co-operant, and spare a couple of hours of your time attending the Bolotnaya Square rally together with others (probably more than once or twice, or so it seems).
Or you can do it later, and in 20 years time while you’re driving along with the unpleasant thought, “If only I went to the rally with the others, everything could have happened so much faster”.
You can pay with your nerves and appetite while you’re angrily reading yet another article about yet another “very patriotic” general’s son who, at the age of 25, has become the head of a state-run bank; or about rare cranes that are suspected of being foreign agents, but you’ll do nothing about it.

The more numerous we are, the less is the burden on everyone.
Now we’re numerous enough to win victory for good at a much smaller price than it was in those olden, epic times.

Perhaps, today the choice isn’t so much, “It's better to die on your feet than live on your knees!”, but rather, “It’s not necessary to live on your knees, even if they teach you that on TV every day”.

Nevertheless, each of us has to do our little bit, as people did before our time, and will continue to do after us.

We must come out and pay.

[The text reads, “See you on May 6 at Bolotnaya Square].

Yekaterinburg. 6 pm. Truda Square.
Saint-Petersburg. 7 pm. Marsovo Field.
Moscow. 6 pm. Bolotnaya Square.

Originally posted by navalny on May. 6th, 2013 at 12:08 PM

I Love It

Mon, 06 May 2013 07:10:20 GMT

TV Channel One Russia.

A big news item “on the results of the opposition’s past year” is titled (surprise!),
“A Year of Scandals and Disappointments: The Opposition after the Bolotnaya Sq. Riots”.

Blah blah, all of them are killers funded by Georgian money [the investigators blame a citizen of Georgia - an independent state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia - to be the alleged instigator of “mass riots” in Russia] and it ends like this:

“The trial against Alexey Navalny is underway, he is charged with embezzlement at the Kirovles company. Shortly before the trial, Navalny announced he wanted to become the Russian president and mentioned the Republic of Estonia to be his reference point, that very Estonia where there is a shameful prohibition against wearing Soviet-era orders and medals, and from where military men and policemen leave for European firms to work as gatekeepers, while young certified Estonian professionals find odd jobs as labourers, cashiers, and drivers in order to support their families.

Oleg Shishkin, correspondent”.

My feelings have been bitterly hurt by Mr Shishkin. Being too timid, he watered down his remarks.

Why, he could have just said that the main point of Navalny’s agenda is to prohibit wearing Soviet orders and medals, and forcibly employ all certified specialists into unskilled work.

Isn’t it great that in Russia young professionals find good jobs?

For example, Oleg Shishkin works at the state TV and gets his salary from us for telling us true life news.

On May 6, at 6:00 pm at Bolotnaya Square, there will be a meeting of all those who wish Oleg Shishkin, as well as his colleagues and bosses, to work as labourers supporting their families by fair means. Although not in Finland, but in his native city of Bryansk.

Originally posted by navalny on May. 6th, 2013 at 12:46 AM

There’s Everything In This News

Sat, 04 May 2013 03:44:25 GMT

This short news item accurately reflects political developments of recent years.

The Muraviovka Nature Park, the nesting ground for rare cranes in the flood plains of Amur, in the Russian Far East, has been declared a "foreign agent" by Russian prosecutors

May 03, 2013
Park officials say the public prosecutor's office consider environmental studies and the conservation of birds to be political activities, and the grant received from the International Cranes’ Foundation is said to be foreign financing.
Besides protecting rare white-naped cranes and oriental white storks, the Park's staff fight fires and poaching, as well as organise environmental summer camps for school students.
More: http://en.rian.ru/russia/20130503/180967677.html

Originally posted by navalny on May. 3rd, 2013 at 6:01 PM

One Day – One Name. Alexei Gaskarov

Sat, 04 May 2013 03:40:28 GMT

Yesterday was supposed to be the last day of the “One Day – One Name” campaign.

But as you know, a member of the Coordinating Council of the opposition, Alexei Gaskarov, was recently arrested.

Today is the Day of Solidarity with him.

Alexei Gaskarov lives in the town of Zhukovsky near Moscow.
He’s a prominent anti-fascist and ecologist protecting the Khimki and Tsagovsky forests.
In 2010, he was arrested for participating in an anti-fascist campaign in defence of the Khimki forest which investigators called an “attack on the Khimki municipal administration”.
Gaskarov served three months in a pre-detention centre and was later fully acquitted in court.

On May 6, 2012, at Bolotnaya Square, Alexei Gaskarov was beaten because he came to the defence of another rally participant who was being dragged along the pavement by policemen.
Alexei filed a claim with the Investigative Committee, yet they never initiated a criminal charge on the use of force against him.

But the investigators didn’t forget about him. On April 28, 2013, Gaskarov was detained right in the street when he was heading to a pet shop to buy some food for his cat.

A police van driver had allegedly seen Gaskarov coordinating a group of so-called ‘participants in mass disorders” and hitting a “guardian of order”. The real names of the prosecution witnesses are suppressed, only their nicknames are listed in the case files on the grounds that the investigators must protect them from perceived threats to their security.

Media person, Ksenia Sobchak, talks about Alexei Gaskarov:

Book publisher and writer, Boris Kupriyanov, talks about Alexei Gaskarov:

And this is a medley made up of Gaskarov’s phrases which he managed to say in court before he was led away under guard:

“Come to the rally on May 6”.

Let’s give Alexei a round of applause. And we’ll meet up with you on May 6 at Bolotnaya Sq.

The assembly starts at 6:00 pm, the rally is authorised.

Originally posted by navalny on May. 3rd, 2013 at 2:27 PM

One Day – One Name. Sergey Krivov

Fri, 03 May 2013 04:17:16 GMT

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolotnaya_square_case#Sergey_Krivov

Sergey is 51. In 1984 he graduated cum laude from the Moscow Engineering and Physics Institute as an an engineer-physicist.

He worked at the Experimental Nuclear Physics department as an engineer, doctoral candidate, research fellow and senior researcher; and now he is a Doctor of Sciences and has authored 24 scientific publications.
His reference letters from his employers are irreproachable.
He has a wife and two children: a girl aged 12 and a boy aged 9. He also supports his disabled mother.

As you can see, Sergey has all the traits considered undesirable by the present-day government of thieves.

What's more, Sergey has never hidden his views:

[The poster reads: “The May 6 case is a blemish on Putin’s regime!”].

Sergey has been kept in remand prison since October 18 last year, and like almost all the other detainees, he faces charges of “mass rioting” and “using violence against a state official”.

Krivov’s so-called “violence” was that on May 6, 2012, he snatched a rubber truncheon out of a riot policeman’s hand who was beating civilians; yet, his accusers did not mention that he had been beaten, too – he received multiple blows to his head and body.

On December 14, he went on protest hunger strike and fasted for 43 days. “I didn’t take part in mass riots, I helped to quell them”, says Sergey.

Sergey Krivov is the central figure in these videos by:

Journalist Leonid Parfenov:

Politician Boris Nemtsov:

Politician Mikhail Kasyanov:

May 6. Bolotnaya Square

Once again “United Russia’s” ragtags at the Moscow Mayor’s Office think they know better than citizens where they should go and where they shouldn’t. That's why they have “denied permission” for us to march.

But it’s not a big deal, anyway. Each of us can take part in our own personal march to Bolotnaya Square from one of the nearest subway stations.

The rally has been fully authorised, permitted, etc.

You’ll be quite safe there.

It' be good if you could spare a few seconds right now and follow this link, and then press “invite friends” in the right upper corner.

The assembly starts at 6:00 pm. See you there.

Originally posted by navalny on May. 2nd, 2013 at 2:27 PM

One Day – One Name. Leonid Razvozzhayev

Thu, 02 May 2013 06:10:10 GMT

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolotnaya_square_case#Leonid_Razvozzhaev

Leonid (39) comes from Angarsk, Siberia.

In October, 2012, the NTV released a fabricated film “The Anatomy of Protests - 2” in which the events of May 6, 2012, at Bolotnaya Square were called “mass riots” and Leonid Razvozzhayev was named one of the alleged organisers. While he was staying in Kiev, Ukraine, he was put on the federal wanted list in Russia. Four Russian intelligence agents seized him right in the street, regardless of the fact that they were in the territory of Ukraine, and bundled him into a mini van. They tied his hands and feet, then took him to a house basement where they kept him for two days, threatening to kill him and his children – an 8-year old daughter and a 16-year old son. Leonid broke down and signed what they wanted – his alleged “confession of guilt”.

Yet, after being moved to Moscow, he withdrew his confession which was extracted under torture. On November 7, during a court session, Razvozzhayev openly confirmed his refusal to acknowledge any wrongdoing. That same day, the Moscow Court found his arrest to be legal. Two more criminal counts were later added to his charges: now he is accused of organising mass riots, robbery with violence in Angarsk in 1997, and illegally crossing the state border.

Last December he was secretly transferred to Angarsk in connection with his alleged robbery case. For five days the public couldn't find him anywhere. Finally, on December 25, members of the Public Watchdog Commission found him at a remand prison in Chelyabinsk city in Siberia. In March, Leonid was again transferred to an undisclosed location. On March 18, he was moved to Moscow.

At present, they are keeping him at the Matrosskaya Tishina detention facility until August 6.

Political analyst, Andrey Piontkovsky, talks about Leonid Razvozzhayev:

http://youtu.be/Ar51sX-vV5s

Originally posted by navalny on May. 2nd, 2013 at 12:03 AM

May Day: "Volunteering For Time-Off"

Thu, 02 May 2013 06:00:22 GMT

May 1st is a very good holiday, and “PEACE, LABOUR, MAY” are very good slogans.

The only thing spoiling the parade are the pudgy faces of United Russia members and the establishment who crawl into the streets and pretend to be “working people”.

In Moscow, the scam traditionally involves City Hall, MPs, and the “leaders” of “trade unions”, i.e., crooks who once grabbed the Soviet-era trade union's property and have been profiting from it for many years.

Not to let the establishment mugs march all by themselves, the local authorities round up a crew of extras: migrants from Central Asia employed at municipal housing utilities, students in return for money, and state employees with time-off.

http://youtu.be/WNjMwkQzjZ0

So today they’ve donned caps (with logos printed from the budget money) on their heads and shuffled along Tverskaya Street.

[Photo of MP Isaev]

One of the main slogans of “United Russia’s May Day parade” has been, “Public Utility Rates Should Be Under Public Control”.

It's better to put it plainly: Russia’s citizens, we consider you to be total morons.

The mayor of Moscow, as well as City Hall (who are all members of “United Russia”) impose high tariffs first of all, and then they march in a column protesting against these very same high tariffs.

What's more, the column is made up of personnel of the public utilities’ monopoly who steal money from the tariffs through inefficient spending and phoney “investment programmes”.

Who are they addressing, I wonder?

(photos from here)

And this is Yekaterinburg:

(from here)
[The slogan reads: “Peace, Labour, Putin”].

PS. And in St. Pete’s there was an awesome demonstration. The photos of it look very cute:

[The slogan reads, “Freedom for Navalny”]

Many thanks to all the participants, and my regards to the lovely city of St. Petersburg.

Originally posted by navalny on May. 1st, 2013 at 2:16 PM

One Day – One Name. Maxim Luzyanin

Wed, 01 May 2013 12:24:00 GMT

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolotnaya_square_case#Maxim_Luzyanin

Maxim Luzyanin is in the Tula region now.
In a standard regime penal colony where he serves time for “participating in mass rioting at Bolotnaya Square”.
He was the first to be sentenced.

Maxim is a businessman and a sportsman, a body-builder raising a 15-year old son.
He owns a fitness club and he was even honoured with acknowledgements by the Podolsk local government and the Russian Orthodox Church, Diocese of Moscow, for “carrying out sports events and contributing to the moral and patriotic education of young people”.

Like any normal person he took to the streets, he did what any normal person would do.

According to the investigators, “during the mass rioting, the suspect broke through the police cordon, kicked and punched police officers, and held them in choker holds”.

During his first two days in detention, Maxim’s lawyers and family were denied permission to visit him, he was kept in a cell without any food and water, and allegedly beaten.
Maxim was forced to “admit his quilt”. However he never gave false testimonies against anyone, he didn’t testify against any “organisers” who were trumped-up by the investigators; he didn’t tell lies about allegedly attending the march on someone else’s order, or for someone’s money.

On November 9, judge Andrei Fedin sentenced Maxim to 4.5 years in prison.
Actually, Maxim was charged with causing physical pain and slight bodily harm (a chipped tooth being the most serious) to a policeman. Maxim also paid the officer’s dental bills.
Not a single person “injured” by him ever appeared in court.

In the video I talk about Maxim.

http://youtu.be/oCNMJVwwcnQ

I’d like to add:

Do you remember the incident near the Maimonides Academy in Moscow? When the riot police were called in to storm the student dormitory building in order to take a number of students to the Investigative Committee for questioning about the fight near the Evropeisky shopping centre?

Here’s the full version of the footage taken by outdoor surveillance cameras.

As you can see, unlike the Bolotnaya Square events, these were real disorders, mass fighting, real fights with the police and even shots fired in the air.

The sentences were as follows:
[One year, two years, and one year and two months in a penal colony for violence injurious to a public officer’s health]..

What didn’t get reported was anything about the new apartments given to the police who supressed the mass disorders near the Maimonides Academy*.

Such is justice.
It shows how “equal” people are before the law.

See you on May 6.

Originally posted by navalny on Apr. 30th, 2013 at 6:03 PM

Translator’s note:
*A number of riot policemen who actively participated in crowd dispersal during the authorised May 6 rally were rewarded with new flats.

Found/ Not Found

Wed, 01 May 2013 12:09:01 GMT

In the first quarter (!) of 2013 the net capital outflow from Russia reached $25.8 billion.
For the whole of 2012, Russia's exports were $57 billion.

Sure, criminal and unlawful transactions do not constitute the entire amount, but the Central Bank of Russia officially estimates that $35 billion out of these $57 billion are “shady transactions”.

You will remember my post about the interview with the Bank of Russia’s Chaiman, Mr Ignatyev, who officially reported these figures saying “shady transactions” were related to drugs, kickbacks, tax evasion, etc., – in his judgement, a large part of the “shady transactions” was controlled by an organised criminal group.

After reading his interview, as a responsible and law-abiding person, I called out, “Alert, alert!” and filed petitions with the Investigative Committee, the Prosecutor General, and the Interior Ministry asking them to verify that information.

Here are their responses:

[The responses from the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Investigative Committee stating that Alexey Navalny’s claims didn’t indicate any law violations, thus no grounds for intervention were found].

Not only have they neglected to file any criminal case, but they even refused to conduct a check.
They found no significant information in my petition.

In other words, the statement of the former head of the Bank of Russia – the person best-informed about banking operations in Russia - didn’t contain even the slightest reference to elements of crime.
Absolutely no information at all. Nothing.

Super!

That’s what I mean when I say the present-day governnment is anti-Russian, anti-national, and occupational.
These people not only hate defending Russia’s national interests; they do their utmost to provide the most luxurious life for those who condemn the country.
They prefer not to find crime where it ought to be found.

And vice versa, where people fight for the interests of the nation and the country, they find anything and everything wrong.

Yesterday they arrested Alexey Gaskarov, a member of the Coordination Council of the opposition.

He is said to have “led the mass rioting at Bolotnaya Square”.
Although all the evidence shows that the only incident at Bolotnaya Square that Gaskarov was implicated in was getting kicked in the face by a riot police officer, and then later having police refuse to consider his complaint: no cause was found.

When Gaskarov took to the streets to uphold his rights and the rights of his people – his investigators, prosecutors and judges were found easily enough.

But when the crooks are laundering $35 billion a year out of the country in illegal transcations – things are not found, there’s no one to investigate it and no grounds for investigation are found.

For this reason we must take part in the May 6 rally and similar events as often as necessary.
Because we do find it criminal to steal $35 billion of our money each year, while we do not find criminal the normal conduct of an honest man.

We must not keep silent.
If we do, they will continue extending the terms for those such as Gaskarov; and the price of roads/ building construction/ the Olympics would rise to record heights; and instead of teaching, school teachers would be more worried about clamping down on the “rally activities” among students.

The Yandex e-wallet (“Olga Romanova’s Wallet”) for the rally fundraising is 410011232431933.

P.S.
Of course, we’ll go to court to appeal the refusals of the Investigative Committee and the Prosecutor’s Office; in addition, we’ll insist that the Central Bank of Russia’s newly-appointed head, Elvira Nabiullina, files an official appeal with law enforcement authorities regarding the facts discovered by the Bank of Russia’s preceeding head, Mr Ignatyev.

Originally posted by navalny on Apr. 30th, 2013 at 1:20 PM

49% Of Russia’s Citizens Still Don’t Call The Thieves “Thieves”.

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 04:44:10 GMT

The majority of Russians consider “United Russia” to be the party of crooks and thieves.

According to the latest opinion survey, for the first time ever, the majority of Russia’s citizens have replied in the affirmative that they agree with Navalny’s thesis that “United Russia” is the party of crooks and thieves.
The number of pessimists who feel certain that the personal financial interests of Putin’s friends are paramount, has increased from 41% to 52%..
http://www.vedomosti.ru/politics/news/11652321/partiya_dlya_bogatyh

It’s the classic story of a glass which is either half empty or half full.
What’s going on in the heads of those 49% of people who do not agree unconditionally that “United Russia is the Party of Crooks and Thieves”?
Why do they call “black” white, or rather; why, when shown black, are they at a loss to answer?

Of course, it’s due to our unfinished business. 51% is good but it should already be 79%.
We’re lazy, my friends. We don’t actively campaign. We think we’re too cool to hang leaflets in doorways.
Your neighbours’ grandma wouldn’t raise her awareness by herself.

We should launch a new phase of our agitation campaign – as you can see, the conditions are perfect.

I’ll think of something simple, inexpensive and interesting to be launched.

Originally posted by navalny on Apr. 29th, 2013 at 11:01 AM

One Day – One Name. Alexey Polikhovich

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 06:56:01 GMT

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolotnaya_square_case#Alexey_Polikhovich

Even if my posts devoted to political prisoners take up 99 per cent of this blog, I have to write them. At the very least, to remind myself.

Alexey (22) is a Moscovite and a former navy sailor in the Northern Fleet. Along with his studies at Russian State Social University, Alexey Polikhovich worked as a senior courier for an insurance company.

On May 6, 2012, he was at Bolotnaya Square.
On the night of July 25/26, he was arrested in his appartment.
He is charged with participating in “mass rioting” and “the use of force against a public officer’.

It is alleged he assisted detained protesters and “grabbed policemen by the uniform”.
The investigators have presented no other evidence but a photo of a masked man. With no proof it was Polikhovich.

In his reference letter, Alexey’s employer described him as a quiet, competent, non-aggressive person, and a conscientious worker.

Showman, Mikhail Shatz, talks about Alexey Polikhovich:

Olga Romanova:

Parents, Alexey and Tatiana Polikhovich, talk about Alexey:

An honest and sincere 22-year old guy, Lyosha Polikhovich, is doing time in jail for no reason whatever.

And we’ll see you all on May 6.

Originally posted by navalny on Apr. 28th, 2013 at 9:51 PM

Gaskarov

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 06:43:25 GMT

This is a sign of the times we live in: while I was writing my post “One Day – One Name” about the “Bolotnaya prisoner”, Alexey Polikhovich, there came the news that Alexey Gaskarov had been arrested.

[Screenshot of the Investigative Committee website]

http://www.sledcom.ru/news/295303.html

Judging by their allusion to his membership of the Coordinating Council of the Opposition as significant and clearly aggaravating circumstances, as well as their “random” misprint - “the Apposition” - it becomes clear that Mr Bastrykin’s duty PR campaigner has been one smart General Markin, again.
The beasts are throwing their weight around, revelling in their impunity.

Alexey has been arrested. After some “secret witness” identified him.
Hopefully, on Monday he’ll be released, not detained.

I remind you that on May 6, 2012, Alexey Gaskarov was beaten and he even filed a complaint about it to the police.

Originally posted by navalny on Apr. 28th, 2013 at 5:54 PM

One Day – One Name. Alexander Margolin

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 06:23:30 GMT

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolotnaya_square_case#Alexander_Margolin

Alexander Margolin is the 21st person arrested in the “Bolotnaya case”.

“He grabbed a policeman by the uniform and threw him to the ground”.

The investigator asked for his arrest on the grounds that “he had been hiding from the investigation for more than nine months”, despite the fact that all the while Alexander had been living at his residence with his wife and two daughters. He didn’t even receive a summons to appear.

Sasha is one of the few “Bolotnaya prisoners” who I know personally – he too, was arrested after the December 5, 2011 rally, and spent 10 days incarcerated. He did his time in a cell together with Ilya Yashin.

He’s a good soul and a very cultured person.

Writer, Dmitry Bykov, talks about Alexander Margolin.

http://youtu.be/1Lj7EeDxu-A

Artist, Alexey Merinov, talks about Alexander Margolin.

Journalist, Tikhon Dzyadko, talks about Alexander Margolin.

His parents talk about him.

Originally posted by navalny on Apr. 27th, 2013 at 11:18 PM

Heroes And Awards

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 23:14:51 GMT

Andrey Isaev has been awarded with the Fourth Class Order of Merit for the Motherland.
http://er.ru/news/2013/4/26/andrej-isaev-nagrazhden-ordenom-za-zaslugi-pered-otechestvom-iv-stepeni/

Pork knuckles served during Lent at his undeclared “hotel for orthodox pilgrims” in Germany obviously tasted so good that they decided to honour him.

Here come the photos from the awards ceremony:

[The text reads, “Singing the national anthem of Germany”]

On the other hand, Isaev’s award seems quite innocuous compared to the following news:

“Being included in the list will have no effect on careers of the Interior Ministry officials ”, said the ministry's head, Vladimir Kolokoltsev, during a meeting with reporters and ministry officials .

Mr Kolokoltsev also thanked his staff whose names were recorded on the “Magnitsky list” for their work and their principled position.
[source: http://www.itar-tass.com/c154/721679.html]

After all, the United Russia’s deputy only bought a hotel in Germany without declaring it; he didn’t torture and murder anybody – so he deserves to be awarded, doesn’t he?.

But if killer cops, thieving tax auditors, and MPs-hoteliers are not your heroes, then I'll see you on May 6 at Bolotnaya Square.

[The inscription reads, “I’m going to Bolotnaya on May 6 for liberty!”].

Originally posted by navalny on Apr. 27th, 2013 at 1:34 PM

One Day – One Name. Dmitry Rukavishnikov

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 09:19:36 GMT

Dmitry was the last of the “Bolotnaya prisoners” to be arrested. He is 35 years old and has two university degrees. Once a school teacher, he now works for a housing and public utility in the town of Ivanovo [300 km from Moscow]. He is married.

Early in the morning on April 2, 2013, Investigative Committee officers raided his home. They made a search and confiscated a hard drive, memory sticks, leaflets and books.
After that he was taken away for questioning and hasn’t returned home until now.

According to the prosecution, on May 6, 2012, the philologist Rukavishnikov, together with other protesters, blocked the riot police’s path with portable toilets. “They turned the toilets upside down, dragged them into the street, and made barriers to obstruct police and servicemen”. He is accused of "involvement in mass rioting".

Journalist, Ksenia Larina, talks about Dmitry Rukavishnikov.

http://youtu.be/vI6NOA5BEX0

Originally posted by navalny on Apr. 26th, 2013 at 9:04 PM

The Irrepressible Mr Pekhtin

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 22:51:30 GMT

During a recess in my trial in Kirov I heard the wonderful news: ~~Dr Hyder has resumed eating~~ the United Russia member and ex-parliamentarian, Vladimir Pekhtin, is initiating a lawsuit against me to defend his honour and dignity.
That means he may have already finished transferring his American real estate into his son’s name, and now he wants to tell us, “Look, I have nothing to delare”.

http://www.rosbalt.ru/main/2013/04/26/1122988.htm

[...] “United Russia” has already announced they would gladly accept him back into their ranks.

Secretary of the General Council of “United Russia” party, and vice-speaker of the State Duma, Sergei Neverov, said Vladimir Pekhtin may regain his parliamentary mandate at any time [...] He expressed his confidence that should Mr Pekhtin file a court action for defamation, he has all the arguments and proof needed to win a case against those “who publish unverified information for the sole purpose of undermining people’s confidence in the government”.

Well, what can I say?
That’s great.
I love it. And though I don’t know where that court hearing would take place; in Moscow or Miami (the place of Mr Pekhtin’s residence), I’ll be more than happy to take part in that wonderful process.

Update:

Chairman of the State Duma, Sergei Naryshkin, has offered to become Pekhtin's adviser
http://www.gazeta.ru/politics/news/2013/04/26/n_2877837.shtml

Originally posted by navalny on Apr. 26th, 2013 at 2:01 PM

One Day - One Name. Oleg Arkhipenkov

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 05:05:11 GMT

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolotnaya_square_case#Oleg_Arhipenkov

Oleg is a sales manager at a travel agency. Not being affiliated to any political parties or movements, he is a volunteer at an organisation helping stray pets.

He got married two weeks before he was arrested on May 23, 2012.

Oleg Arkhipenkov didn't attend the May 6 rally or the march - in fact, he wasn't even at Bolotnaya Square at all.
On May 6, he was detained near the "Revolution Square" underground station, and a month later he was arrested and accused of "involvement in mass rioting".
Oleg's lawyer was unable to see him until June 27. During their first meeting, it turned out that prior to being imprisoned, Mr Arkhienkov had been sent to a psychiatric hospital.

After two months of public pressure, he was released from the pre-detention facility on his own recognizance not to leave Moscow. His charges have not yet been dropped; he is still on remand and faces trial.

Actress and musician, Oksana Mysina, is speaking about Oleg Arkhipenkov:

Originally posted by navalny on Apr. 25th, 2013 at 8:16 PM