President Medvedev’s appointment of ex-press minister and former lawyer, Mikhail Fedotov, as the new head of the Kremlin’s human rights council has apparently produced mixed feelings in human rights circles.  The prior occupant of the post, the body’s founder, Ella Pamfilova, resigned in July reportedly following ongoing battles with United Russia and pro-Kremlin forces (an occupational hazard for any Russian rights worker, some might argue).

The nomination of Fedotov, as opposed to the committee’s apparently preferred candidate, business lobbyist and economics professor Alexander Auzan, has been greeted with surprise in some quarters.