TODAY: Chávez says no military base; Dovgy trial begins today; Medvedev focuses on corruption, calls for government criticism; 1,000-strong protests in Vladivostock.

President Dmitry Medvedev counted 40,000 criminal cases ‘brought against those who violate state rules while in public service or local government’ for 2008, and said the number is even higher than that of 2007.  12,000 of those, he said, were of bribery.  He intends to publicly disclose his income, in accordance with new laws, under which ‘many [government officials] are believed to declare figures that hide their true income from graft’.  Medvedev also called for an open discussion of the Kremlin’s anti-crisis measures, saying that he would welcome criticism, and said that Russia’s lack of ‘political tension’ was a good sign.  The weekend’s anti-government protests included a reported 1,000-strong march in Vladivostock (where the car tariff protests initially gathered ground).  More than 40 pro-Kremlin youth activists were detained in Moscow ‘for violations of protest rally regulations’.