Navalny on the Death of Col. Yuri Budanov

The assassination of Col. Yuri Budanov, who was convicted of the brutal rape and strangling of the 18-year-old Chechen girl named Elza Kungaeva, has prompted feverish debate in Russia, including no small amount of hate speech and calls to violence from the nationalists. Picking up on these events, the following is translated from the LiveJournal blog of Alexei Navalny:

The Final Battle between Good and Neutrality

The assassinated Colonel Budanov will be buried today in Khimki . The funeral service will start at 11.30 in the Church of Cosmas and Damian, 6 Right Bank, Khimki.

I would personally like to say some things about his assassination:

1) Budanov committed murder and he admitted it. He received the kind of punishment that is normal for our society- he got ten years. You can certainly argue whether it’s a lot or a little, but you cannot say that the court was in any way favourable towards the accused.

2) Budanov served 8 ½ years and was released on parole in accordancewith the law. They released him later than they could have and laterthan is normally the case.

3) Three days ago he was extrajudicially executed.

4) There is every reason to believe that the execution was directlyor implicitly ordered by those bandits who it is now normal to call the “Leadership of the Chechen Republic” In fact, Kadyrov has frankly andpublicly stated his intentions to carry out such a punishment before :

-“We will find a way to give him back what he deserves”

-“Budanov is a schizophrenic and a murderer, a recognized enemy ofthe Chechen people”, stated the president of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrovduring an interview to Regnum. ” He insulted our nation. Every man,woman and child believes that while Budanov lives, the shame will neverleave us…. I think that the federal centre made the right decision- hislife sentence in prison. Even that is not enough for him. But the lifesentence will ease our suffering a little at least. We do not tolerateinsults. If a decision is not made, then the consequences will be bad.”

-” The Chechen deputy to the Duma Delimhanov (a former driver of theterrorist Salman Raduyev), while commenting on Budanov’s assassination,stated bluntly that ” This is retaliation”

– Evidence has appeared that ” law enforcement bodies” in Chechnyaare using their powers to establish the identity and the whereabouts ofthose who they consider to be ‘ enemies of the people’:

“SP” : – If those to whom it would be necessary to know, knew so much about Budanov, why didn’t they kill him earlier?

– Its not just about knowing where he was. I don’t rule out the bigpolitical game that is going on. Imagine what is now going to be aroundthe upcoming funeral. Anything could happen. Its not impossible thatthere an occasion to accuse the Russian Patriotic movement of extremismwill appear. Is it really impossible to acknowledge such a goal? Andwhat about the fact that some Chechens are collecting information aboutthose who fought with them…

They call me from the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation.They received an official request from the prosecutor of the ChechenRepublic for them to indicate which soldier on certain day and a certaintime was standing at such-and-such a road block. From which militaryunit? If possible- the home address

“Sp” : – and they told them?
– I think they did, yes. It’s an official request.

5) The accomplices of Budanov’s killers are in power and, over the lastfew yours, have directly cultivated all this criminal nonsense aboutblood feuds, regularly proclaimed by the half-savage leaders of therepublics of the Caucasus. Any official, even if only hinting at it,must resign from their post. A direct call for a blood feud andstatements about “enemies of the people” should be punished undercriminal law.

6) What has happened forces us to understand what we have in Chechnyaafter two wars, thousands of people dead, refugees and millions spent:

The first war in Chechnya began because
– A government of bandits was organised there
– Criminals from Chechnya committed crimes in the rest of Russianterritory and they hid themselves in their homeland. There were noextraditions.
– Chechen quasi-government stole colossal amounts of money through “Chechen vouchers” and through other means.
– The non-Chechen population were oppressed.

What we have now:
-A government of bandits. All their leaders, the main bandits, have become members of “United Russia”.
– Criminals from Chechnya received certificates from policemen andSpecial Services personnel that facilitated them in committing crimes inthe rest of Russian territory. There are no extraditions, and there isno need for them to hide.
-The Chechen quasi-government steals colossal amounts of money sentthrough direct transfers. No more need for “Chechen vouchers”.
-There is virtually no more non-Chechen population left.

7) The roots of the “Chechen” and “Caucasian” problems are found inMoscow. The thieving powers of Putin need a bunch of murderers to solvetheir problems. That is why they contain and protect them.