Conviction of Putin foe sets off protest in Moscow

[webfact]

Conviction of Putin foe sets off protest in Moscow
NATALIYA VASILYEVA, Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin's chief political foe was convicted along with his brother on Tuesday in a fraud case widely seen as a vendetta by the Kremlin, triggering one of Russia's boldest anti-government demonstrations in years.

Police allowed a few thousand protesters to gather just outside Red Square for about two hours — a show of relative restraint for Russian authorities, who have little tolerance for dissent — before moving in to break up the unsanctioned rally by pushing the demonstrators toward subway entrances.

The rally came hours after anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny was found guilty of what activists said were trumped-up charges and given a suspended sentence of 3½ years. His younger brother was sent to prison, a move that drew comparisons to the Stalin-era practice of punishing family members of enemies of the state.

The 38-year old Navalny, a lawyer and popular blogger, rose to prominence with his investigations of official corruption and played a leading role in organizing anti-Putin demonstrations in Moscow in 2011 and 2012 that drew hundreds of thousands.

Navalny, who has been under house arrest since February, violated its terms to attend the rally and was rounded up by police as he approached the site. He later tweeted that police drove him home and blocked him from leaving his apartment.

The protesters, who gathered on the Manezh Square outside the Kremlin, chanted: "We are the power!" and "Russia without Putin!" Some shouted slogans of support for Ukraine, which saw its Crimean Peninsula annexed by Russia in March and has faced a pro-Russia insurgency in the east.

Scuffles erupted between the protesters and pro-Putin activists shouting, "Those who don't like Russia should go to the United States!" — the chants reflecting the Kremlin's depiction of opposition supporters as Western stooges.

The Russian authorities usually move quickly to break up opposition protests, and the unusual delay this time may reflect Kremlin concerns about fueling public anger amid the country's economic woes. The ruble has lost about half its value this year, and the economy is heading into recession under the combined weight of Western sanctions and slumping oil prices.

Police said they detained about 100 protesters, while activists claimed up to 250 were rounded up. Russian law requires demonstrators to get official clearance for rallies. Violators can face prison sentences and heavy fines.

Tuesday's verdict was not scheduled to come down until next month, but the court session was abruptly moved up to the day before New Year's Eve, the main holiday in Russia, in what was widely seen as an attempt to head off protests. Russia's main state-controlled TV stations all but avoided the story.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said the U.S. government was troubled by the verdict, which "appears to be another example of the Russian government's growing crackdown on independent voices."

European Union spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said the charges hadn't been substantiated and the verdict "appeared to be politically motivated."

Navalny and his brother Oleg were convicted of cheating a French cosmetics company and given the same 3½-year sentence, but only Navalny's was suspended. The court also fined each man 500,000 rubles (about $8,800) and ordered them to pay a total of about 4 million rubles ($77,000) in damages.

Oleg Navalny, the father of two small children and a former executive of the state-owned postal service, has never played a role in the Russian opposition movement. Alexei Navalny and his supporters portrayed the brother's prison sentence as a means of punishing Navalny himself.

"Aren't you ashamed of what you're doing? You want to punish me even harder?" Alexei Navalny shouted at Judge Yelena Korobchenko.

He entered the metal cage that his brother was put into after the verdict and appeared to hold back tears.

"This is the most disgusting and vile of all possible verdicts," Alexei Navalny said outside court.

"The government isn't just trying to jail its political opponents — we're used to it; we're aware that they're doing it — but this time they're destroying and torturing the families of the people who oppose them."

Independent Moscow-based political analyst Masha Lipman said the verdict is a message to the entire Russian opposition: "All of you guys are at our mercy."

Lipman said it was clear the Kremlin had decided not to make a martyr out of Navalny, with the aim being "not to consolidate the opposition, but to demoralize and intimidate it."

The suspended sentence could be converted into a prison term at any time if Navalny breaks the law. His lawyer Vadim Kobzev said he will remain under house arrest until all appeals by either side are exhausted, which could take months.

The trial seemed to be full of inconsistencies.

Prosecutors insisted that the brothers forced the Yves Rocher company "into disadvantageous contracts" and defrauded it of 26 million rubles (about $440,000).

An Yves Rocher executive submitted a complaint to investigators, but its representatives insisted throughout the trial that there was never any damage. Also, the French executive who wrote the complaint left Russia shortly afterward and never attended the hearings.

Navalny was found guilty of embezzlement in a different case in 2013 and sentenced to prison but was released the next day after thousands protested near the Kremlin. He finished a strong second in Moscow's mayoral election later that year.

Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky who spent 10 years behind bars before he was pardoned last year, dismissed Tuesday's verdict as Putin's revenge for Navalny's activism, adding that "Putin and his entourage are capable of vile tricks, deception, forgery and manipulation."

New York-based Human Rights Watch said the verdict sends a message "to expect a harsher crackdown in 2015."

___

Jim Heintz, Kate de Pury and Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow, John-Thor Dahlburg in Brussels, and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report


-- (c) Associated Press 2014-12-31

[NeverSure]

"The court also fined each man 500,000 rubles (about $8,800) and ordered them to pay a total of about 4 million rubles ($77,000) in damages."

Those guys should wait a couple of months to pay those Rubles. It would probably cost them about a dollar.

[Anthony5]

"The court also fined each man 500,000 rubles (about $8,800) and ordered them to pay a total of about 4 million rubles ($77,000) in damages."

Those guys should wait a couple of months to pay those Rubles. It would probably cost them about a dollar.

I thought the Ruble has been worldwide the best performing currency for the past 10 days or so.

[ldnguy]

"The court also fined each man 500,000 rubles (about $8,800) and ordered them to pay a total of about 4 million rubles ($77,000) in damages."

Those guys should wait a couple of months to pay those Rubles. It would probably cost them about a dollar.

I hope you don't have any plans to become a forex trader. You'd be broke within a day. More likely that the ruble will strengthen.

[NeverSure]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

"The court also fined each man 500,000 rubles (about $8,800) and ordered them to pay a total of about 4 million rubles ($77,000) in damages."

Those guys should wait a couple of months to pay those Rubles. It would probably cost them about a dollar.

I thought the Ruble has been worldwide the best performing currency for the past 10 days or so.

"The court also fined each man 500,000 rubles (about $8,800) and ordered them to pay a total of about 4 million rubles ($77,000) in damages."

Those guys should wait a couple of months to pay those Rubles. It would probably cost them about a dollar.

I hope you don't have any plans to become a forex trader. You'd be broke within a day. More likely that the ruble will strengthen.

It's past Christmas or I'd buy both of you new sarcasm detectors.

Actually Russia can't sustain paying the 17% its raised interest to, nor can it keep pouring money it doesn't really have into buying Rubles. Its economy is in recession, oil prices are a desperate situation as it needs the money to support its economy and people, and things will be bleak for Russia for a while.

But of course I can't predict the future of the Ruble nor can anyone.

[Publicus]

Pravda says the ruble will be stronger than ever next year.

And to think, the word pravda translates as 'truth.'

Truth is Putin is now ordering exporters to sell to the USD market. Some currency swaps with the CCP Boyz in Beijing are also helping out. But this is temporary stuff cause bills will be coming due throughout the new year, upwards of $650 billion denominated in bucks, most of which will be supported by ruble debt bonds.

I tried to call Vlad to find out what, but I wuz told in no uncertain terms Vlad will be completely tied up in domestic matters through most if not all of 2015. One example of Vlad's problems is that he has to buy gold produced in Russia because the regular customer banks of Europe have stopped buying and aren't going to be buying for a long time to come.

And this protest demonstration is introducing Vlad to what he's going to see a lot of in the cities come the spring.

[anon022]

At first I could swear they swapped the headlines with an article about a demonstration somewhere in the US, New York came to mind, where peaceful demonstrations are routinely met with police brutality, especially if a license to demonstrate is not obtained. When your government puts a law place that bars peaceful demonstrations against the government, unless they are allowed to by that same government, then you know you live in a )($;@/);$ Stazi police state!

Edited December 31, 2014 by Impossible

[Benmart]

At first I could swear they swapped the headlines with an article about a demonstration somewhere in the US, New York came to mind, where peaceful demonstrations are routinely met with police brutality, especially if a license to demonstrate is not obtained. When your government puts a law place that bars peaceful demonstrations against the government, unless they are allowed to by that same government, then you know you live in a )($;@/);$ Stazi police state!

Please research the Stazi. The " )($;@' etc. does little to support the statements made.

[F430murci]

"The court also fined each man 500,000 rubles (about $8,800) and ordered them to pay a total of about 4 million rubles ($77,000) in damages."

Those guys should wait a couple of months to pay those Rubles. It would probably cost them about a dollar.

I thought the Ruble has been worldwide the best performing currency for the past 10 days or so.

It's in the 59 to 60 range right now hich is very bad considering the extreme measures Putin has taken to stabilize the currency.

[F430murci]

At first I could swear they swapped the headlines with an article about a demonstration somewhere in the US, New York came to mind, where peaceful demonstrations are routinely met with police brutality, especially if a license to demonstrate is not obtained. When your government puts a law place that bars peaceful demonstrations against the government, unless they are allowed to by that same government, then you know you live in a )($;@/);$ Stazi police state!

I sat there and watched about 25 idiots beating drums, laying in the streets, spitting in cars blocked and yelling "Black lives matter." Cops just say by and watched and in fact restrained a driver who got upset when some idiot protestor kept spitting on his van. We are actually too tolerant of this crap.

[F430murci]

I wrote about Navalny on here last year. This story actually pales in comparison Sergi Magntisky. He uncovered massive tax fraud committed by several of Putin's top henchmen. He was jailed on trumped up charges, tortured and beaten in jail and died after being denied medical services. They then tried and convicted him after his death to ruin his family name.

Here are a few others:

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE96H13W20130718?irpc=932

Edited December 31, 2014 by F430murci

[hawker9000]

Pravda says the ruble will be stronger than ever next year.

And to think, the word pravda translates as 'truth.'

Truth is Putin is now ordering exporters to sell to the USD market. Some currency swaps with the CCP Boyz in Beijing are also helping out. But this is temporary stuff cause bills will be coming due throughout the new year, upwards of $650 billion denominated in bucks, most of which will be supported by ruble debt bonds.

I tried to call Vlad to find out what, but I wuz told in no uncertain terms Vlad will be completely tied up in domestic matters through most if not all of 2015. One example of Vlad's problems is that he has to buy gold produced in Russia because the regular customer banks of Europe have stopped buying and aren't going to be buying for a long time to come.

And this protest demonstration is introducing Vlad to what he's going to see a lot of in the cities come the spring.

Pravda & TAT must be corporately affiliated or have an exchange program or something...

[Asiantravel]

"The court also fined each man 500,000 rubles (about $8,800) and ordered them to pay a total of about 4 million rubles ($77,000) in damages."

Those guys should wait a couple of months to pay those Rubles. It would probably cost them about a dollar.

ha ha !! but maybe crashing the ruble is now part of Russia's specific strategy?

But it is funny that nobody in the Western media discuss the dangers of the “Samson Defense”

honestly, you guys in America think you are dealing with amateurs

A chilling report published today by the Ministry of Economic Development (MED) is warning of potentially “catastrophic unknown consequences” relating to President Putin’s issuance to the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) of orders to initiate what is commonly known within the Kremlin as the “Samson Defense” designed to crash the Russian ruble, while at the same time insuring the economic collapse of both the United States and European Union.

http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index1825.htm

[F430murci]

"The court also fined each man 500,000 rubles (about $8,800) and ordered them to pay a total of about 4 million rubles ($77,000) in damages."

Those guys should wait a couple of months to pay those Rubles. It would probably cost them about a dollar.

ha ha !! but maybe crashing the ruble is now part of Russia's specific strategy?

But it is funny that nobody in the Western media discuss the dangers of the Samson Defense

honestly, you guys in America think you are dealing with amateurs

A chilling report published today by the Ministry of Economic Development (MED) is warning of potentially catastrophic unknown consequences relating to President Putins issuance to the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) of orders to initiate what is commonly known within the Kremlin as the Samson Defense designed to crash the Russian ruble, while at the same time insuring the economic collapse of both the United States and European Union.

http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index1825.htm

Lol, yep . . . no one in US is smart enough or has a sufficient grasp on world economic conditions

to understand macro or global economics except you, Putin and your nutty websites.

Well the cat is out of the bag now. I bet the Fed, our government, the banking industry and Wall Street are all quivering in their boots now thAt werei licked. Look for large pull backs in the market and large institutional investors to run for cover early next week. Crisis on the horizon. Oh my, what shall we do?

[Credo]

I read that link and I confess, I must be a little thick. I just don't see how going broke can make you rich.

[F430murci]

I read that link and I confess, I must be a little thick. I just don't see how going broke can make you rich.

If you are crashing your currency, would you spend 1/2 of your liquid reserves to prop it and raise your interest rates to 20% and drives you banks to failure?