RA’s Daily Russian News Blast – June 14, 2011
TODAY: Budanov buried with military honors; fears of reprisals swell; another lawsuit for Artemy Troitsky; sentence for Orlov to be announced today; tardy governor holds up air traffic. Libya mediation through chess? Russian pavilion draws praise at Venice Bienniale
The burial of Yuri Budanov, the ex-colonel who served a prison sentence for murdering a Chechen girl in 2000, has taken place in Khimki, attended by hundreds of Russian nationalists. Budanov was apparently interred with military honors, a fact that, Aleksandr Golts believes, contradicts Russian law. The Moscow Times suggests that investigators will not be wanting for suspects for the murder of the ex-tank commander. Budanov’s crime was deplorable, ‘But if vigilante justice is swept under the carpet for a man like Budanov, what’s to stop other killers from taking the law into their own hands with the rest of us?’ argues this op-ed. If it is proved that Budanov’s murder was planned by Chechens, it is more than possible that further revenge attacks will ensure, says the Independent.
Adding to music critic Artemy Troitsky’s existing panoply of woes, a former Kremlin aide has sued the public activist for defamation. The lawsuit was filed by Vladimir Kiselyov, head of the Federation charity, which raised the ire of rights activists this year for not providing money to sick children after hosting an event attended by Putin. Today the magistrate’s division of Moscow’s Khamovnichesky Court is expected to announce a sentenceon Memorial head Oleg Orlov, accused of slander on Ramzan Kadyrov. TheChechen President is apparently hoping to see the activist receive athree-year colony sentence. Pilots were up in arms after an Aeroflot flight to Moscow was forced to wait on the runway last week to allow Irkutsk Governor Dmitry Mezentsev to catch the plane.
Moscow’s attempts to mediate in Libya’s civil war took an unusual twist over the weekend when FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhino took on Moammar Gadhafi in a chess game in Tripoli. That the Libyan leader is ‘calm’ and plays a ‘decent game’ of chess were the diplomatic insights gleaned by the eccentric politician’s visit.
The New York Times looks at Russian artist Andrei Monastyrski ‘s dynamic contribution to the Venice Biennale.
PHOTO: Elza Kungayeva’s father and brother holding photos of her at Budanov’s trial in 2001.
(Igor Tabakov / MT)
