Grigory Pasko: Russia Shuffles its Prison Officials

By Grigory Pasko | Published: November 9, 2010

In August of this year, President Dmitry Medvedev sent into retirement the chiefs of the main administrations of the FSIN [the Federal Service for the Execution of Punishments, formerly known as GULag, the agency responsible for running the prison camp system–Trans.] for Primorsky Kray and Sverdlovsk Oblast. About this was reported with six lines on […]

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Grigory Pasko: Debating the Khodorkovsky Verdict

By Grigory Pasko | Published: November 8, 2010

At the trial of the former owners of the Russian oil company YUKOS the procurators – the party of the state prosecution have completed their appearances in the final submissions. That is, the decreeing of the verdict of the judges of the Khamovnichesky Court is not that far off. After Vladimir Putin’s interview during the […]

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Grigory Pasko: Khodorkovsky and the Chimera of Law and Order

By Grigory Pasko | Published: November 3, 2010

In his final words before the court, Mikhail Khodorkovsky stated: “I want for the court in my country to become independent, so we would not leave the traces of totalitarianism as an inheritance for our children and grandchildren. Everybody understands that your verdict is going to become the history of Russia“. Если Вы хотите прочитать […]

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Grigory Pasko: Another Seven Years?

By Grigory Pasko | Published: October 23, 2010

Procurator Lakhtin in the name of the entire UPG – united procuratorial group – demanded to deprive former head of YUKOS Mikhail Khodorkovsky and ex-executive of MFO “Menatep” Platon Lebedev of liberty for a term of 14 years with the serving of the punishment in a general-regime colony. This term, as the defendants’ lawyers clarified, […]

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Grigory Pasko: Russia’s Human Rights Straw Men

By Grigory Pasko | Published: October 19, 2010

President of the RF Dmitry Medvedev has appointed Mikhail Fedotov as his advisor and chairman of the council under the head of state for contributing to the development of institutions of civil society and for human rights. As is known, the former advisor, Ella Pamfilova, left this post of her own desire on 30 July […]

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Grigory Pasko: Luzhkov’s Strangest Monuments

By Grigory Pasko | Published: October 11, 2010

In an article I wrote for the Index about Luzhkov-the-journalist that the former mayor of Moscow has no doubt dreamed about how upon the expiration of his powers he will be conferred the honor of being put on display in his city in the form of a monument. I am ready to make a wager […]

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Grigory Pasko: Sutyagin in Legal Limbo

By Grigory Pasko | Published: October 7, 2010

The strange swap, which was not prescribed by any laws, of Russian wannabe spies for three (it is unclear whose exactly) spies and one person who doesn’t belong in THIS company at all ended the devil knows how for this last person: the state that goes by the name of Russia has still not issued […]

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Grigory Pasko: Gulag State of Mind

By Grigory Pasko | Published: October 5, 2010

A couple of days ago I accidentally bumped into an acolyte of the GULAG, or, in more contemporary parlance – FSIN (the Federal Service for the Execution of Punishment). He’s been serving there for a long time, such an impression – since he was in diapers. He serves as a journalist, in some kind of […]

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Grigory Pasko: Blood and Oil

By Grigory Pasko | Published: September 12, 2010

Half an hour before the start of the latest court day in the Khamovnichesky Court the public was discussing Putin’s words about Khodorkovsky, attributed to him by the Polish journalist Adam Michnik. I shall remind readers that, in the words of the Gazeta Wyborcza, during the question about Khodorkovsky the premier’s “face changed, and he […]

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Grigory Pasko: Ranking Russia’s Constitutional Court

By Grigory Pasko | Published: September 9, 2010

During a meeting on improving the judicial system this past July, President Dmitry Medvedev noted that “the modern-day court must be open for public control and in a greater degree accessible for citizens.” The president also spoke about the issue of public oversight in discussing the new draft law «On the police». In the words […]

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