RA’s Daily Russian News Blast – May 5, 2010
Apparently only half of Russia’s governors made Friday’s deadline to post income declarations. Among those who failed to publish: Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov and Tula Governor Vyacheslav Dudka. A Putin spokesman has said that the placing of the Russian Prime Minister on the Reporters without Borders list of predators of press freedom is ‘deeply erroneous.’ The Duma will consider a bill tightening regulations for the recruitment of police officers, whose reputation has suffered of late from incidents of violence and accusations of graft. ‘Millions of corrupt officials gobble up the country’s wealth and cripple the country with their parasitism,’ says a Moscow Times op-ed. An investigator will face prosecution for allowing Vera Trifonova to die though lack of medical treatment at Matrosskaya Tishina detention center. Meanwhile the deceased’s lawyer believes officials should face a charge of death through ‘direct intent.’ The case is re-igniting calls for prison reform, says the New York Times. ‘The death of Vera Trifonova occurred mainly because the proper conclusions have not been drawn from the Magnitsky case,’ argues one NGO representative.