RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – March 29, 2013
TODAY: Washington likens NGO searches to witch hunt; Putin defends raids, but suggests caution; Lev Ponomaryov faces charges; President attempts reinvigoration of All-Russia People’s Front. Surprise naval exercises in Black Sea; military hardware delivered to Venezuela; suspicions remain over Berezovsky’s death.
Vladimir Putin has described the latest spate of raids on NGOs as ‘routine measures‘, whilst noting that the audits should be monitored by the presidential ombudsman for human rights to ensure there are no ‘excesses‘. The U.S. has compared the ‘unprecedented wave of inspections‘, of which the Moscow Helsinki Group, Russia’s oldest human rights organization, is the most recent victim, to a witch hunt. This article considers how long Washington’s Magnitsky sanction list will turn out to be. Following the raid on the NGO he runs, three administrative cases have been launched against veteran human rights activist Lev Ponomaryov. Embattled rights watchdog Memorial is a possible contender for a Nobel Peace Prize. President Vladimir Putin has hosted a conference charged with reviving the Kremlin-sponsored All-Russia People’s Front. The President has proposed limiting golden parachute payments for executive managers. Corruption continues to blight Russia’s prospects of a credit-rating upgrade, says Moody’s. ‘Rich Russians have not needed to fight for the rule of law at home to protect their capital. They have chosen the much simpler option of exporting their money and taking advantage of the rule of law in the West’.