Grigory Pasko: Post-election Metastases

Post-election Metastases By Grigory Pasko, journalist Scientists at Cornell University (USA) in 2005 succeeded in identifying the mechanism for the spread of metastases of a cancerous tumor. The scientists established that the appearance of metastases in any organ is preceded by the formation of colonies of bone marrow cells, preparing a kind of “landing site” for the cancer cells. The scientists discovered that during the formation of metastases, bone marrow cells receive biochemical signals from the “mother” tumor, forcing them to migrate throughout the entire body of the sick organism. Colonies of chekists – former members of the KGB – are spreading throughout all of Russia at incredible speed. The “biochemical signals” are being spread throughout the entire country from the Kremlin. Former and current chekists, catching these signals, start to migrate throughout the entire body of the big country in the search for any kind of power at all. Nowadays, it is hard to find an agency, all the more so a federal one, in which chekists do not occupy the leadership posts.

The most recent manifestations of the spread of this “21st century plague” are the penetration of the chekists into the legislative organs and the organs of local self-administration. (An earlier, and probably the most dangerous, trend has been the penetration of former KGB people into the judicial milieu).The elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation that took place on 2 December of the year just ending were in certain regions of Russia combined with elections to local organs of power. Thus, in Vladivostok, the city duma was elected. Its speaker became a member of the «United Russia» party, FSB general in reserve Valery Rozov (in his time, he had been deputy commander of the forces of the Pacific Ocean border district of the KGB). Not so long ago, the chair of the deputy mayor of Vladivostok was occupied by yet another former KGB man, Igor Barannik (prior to coming to Vladivostok, he had been the deputy chief of the UFSB of the RF for Amur Oblast; he had worked more than 30 years in the territorial organs of the FSB of Russia in the Far Eastern federal district).And as for the office of the mayor himself, they have already long ago been pushing the son of KGB general Ruslan Kondratov. But this office is vacant for now.In one of the Primorsky Kray newspapers I read the opinion about the recent elections of a former deputy to the Legislative Assembly of Primorsky Kray, member of the «A Just Russia» party Nikolai Markovtsev. He was dissatisfied with the results of the elections. And what did he find unsatisfactory, you may ask? The fact that he didn’t win?Markovtsev is an interesting figure. Former lieutenant-colonel of the FSB, former candidate for mayor of Vladivostok (he was beaten in those elections by the businessman Vladimir Nikolayev, who at the beginning of this year was thrown in jail, and who on 24 December, just a few days ago, was given a 4.5 year suspended sentence for various abuses of power). Markovtsev came to the elections back then under the slogan «We will soak the mafia in the toilet!». It is obvious that this linguistic creativity was inspired by yet another fighter for the people’s justice – Russia’s «national leader» Vladimir Putin.

Campaign poster for Nikolai Markovtsev – colonel of the FSB. WE’LL SOAK THE MAFIA IN THE TOILET. Vote against all! (photo from the Grigory Pasko archive)

It is noteworthy that Markovtsev has on occasion criticised the current governor of Primorsky Kray, Sergey Darkin. This was before president Putin confirmed Darkin anew in the post of governor. And after the confirming, Markovtsev announced the following: “The introduction by the president of the candidacy of Sergey Darkin is very symbolic for today’s Russia. To the administration of the state, and of our Kray, and of the city have come people of a new formation, a new wave. The time of such politicians as Cherepkov, Zyuganov, Yeltsin is passing, coming to replace them is a generation of [people who are] assertive, strong, brash in the good sense of the word, ready to go forward no matter what, unstoppable, decisively achieving the tasks placed before themselves with any means that are good for them and, as they say here in Russia – winners aren’t judged. At the same time, the courts, the procuracy, practically the entire press are working for this new power.”I couldn’t have said it better myself. Moreover, these words to a greater measure apply not to the modest figure of Darkin (whose days on the eve of the holding in Vladivostok of the APEC summit in the year 2012 are clearly numbered), but precisely to the entire colony of chekists that has crawled and slithered its way throughout the entire country. Just so: assertive, brash, unstoppable (even by violation of the law), attaining their goals using any means… And at the same time, they’ve got the courts, the procuracy, and the entire press under them…No, Markovtsev knows precisely who the checksts are – he’s one of them himself, he stepped out of that same uniform.…And then I recently read a small article in one of the newspapers about how the human rights ombudsman for Primorsky Kray, Sergey Zhekov, had become concerned about the situation of prisoners in the Kray. He, jointly with the head of the administration of the Federal Service for the Execution of Punishments of Russia [an agency formerly known as GULag—Trans.] for Primorsky Kray, Anatoly Zavadsky, had signed an agreement «On the main forms of interaction and cooperation with the aims of observing human rights and freedoms in the criminal-execution [penal—Trans.] system». Within the framework of this agreement, the parties have to inform one another of violations of the rights and freedoms of convicts.

Comrade Zhekov suddenly claims to care about prisoners’ rights (photo from the Grigory Pasko archive)

That life isn’t a bowl of cherries for prisoners in Primorsky Kray has been known for a long time. But that Zhekov has become concerned about their life – now that’s news.By the way, former chekists (and Zhekov, as I’m sure you’ve guessed by now, is indeed a former employee of the organs) know how to pretend like they’re human rights advocates, liberals…And even presidents.…By the way, in the opinion of the scientists from Cornell University, the only way to stop the formation of metastases is at the very beginning of this process, by neutralizing the biochemical impulses emanating from the cancerous tumor.Be healthy, my dear Russians!