MOSCOW, July 19 (RIA Novosti)
A Russian court released opposition leader (click here) and anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny from custody Friday, as the five-year prison sentence handed down to him the day before will only come in force in ten days, after his appeal is heard.
Navalny was taken into custody Thursday after being sentenced by a court in the city of Kirov for masterminding a 2009 embezzlement scheme involving a state-owned timber supply company in the Kirov region. Navalny has denied the charges, claiming the trial was politically motivated and orchestrated by the Kremlin in response to his role in organizing a series of massive public protests against President Vladimir Putin.
The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office requested Navalny be released from custody until his sentence comes into legal force. If Navalny does not appeal the verdict, he will have to go to prison in 10 days, it said....
Appeals have been known to work. So many of these oppositional cases are considered to be politically motivated. I would not discourage free and open speech in lieu of a revolt. These cases so seldom make the media until they appear to be seeking appeal it is nearly impossible to measure the sincere underground opposition of the current government.
October 10, 2012
The appeals court in Moscow heard the appeal of the three women on Wednesday....
I suppose Alexei Navalny could have used an anti-corruption blog to hide any embezzlement, but, the two are separate. Embezzlement is one reality and the point he was making in his anti-corruption blog is another reality. One does not equate the other. There is nothing saying others cannot pick up with the blog posts should his appeal fail.
I did find this blog in English (click here)
There is an extensive biography on Wikipedia (click here)
It is common knowledge there is corruption in Russia. Some results in deaths within Moscow. For as progressive as Moscow likes to be, there is a very dark side. It isn't as through evidence doesn't exist to point a finger at oppression though.
Paul Klebnikov an investigative journalist was murdered July 9, 2004. There were accusations of three Chechen men being responsible only to be acquitted with one still missing.
It is difficult to blame the Russian leadership because it can be argued people who decent are safer in prison. That is not the case either. There is a pervasive insult to those that speak out even in prison and they die in a cell.
Opposition that is important such as engaged by Alexei Navalny has a place in Moscow media and otherwise. Someone willing to be intelligently involved in rooting out corruption which leads from the street to the prisons can't be ignored. Perhaps rather than Russia citizens risking their lives President Putin should have a blog about the deep seated corruption in the country. Bringing it out into the light is the best venue for adequately dealing with it. It removes the power the government has no control over and will ultimately punish the real enemy, the embezzlement of freedom.
I wish Mr. Alexei Navalny much success in his appeal.
And to President Putin. Control at every turn is not the answer. He should remember how openness developed a trust of him among the Russian people.
I think I make my point when embezzlement includes selling a failing logging company. Sometimes the failure of the company can be arranged and that is what is at the heart of Mr. Navalny's charges. For if the company didn't fail there would be no sale, now would there?
I have to disagree with Mr. Prokhorov. He sounds so Wall Street with no empathy for the former owner of the logging company. Wouldn't you say? The New York Times might be right and this is a sincere opposition to capitalism, but, is that all that bad?
The point is that if Russia opposes the corruption of wealth within it's society that result in costs to the poor, what will it do?
If the logging company is found to be the victim of economic corruption in capitalistic take overs, where are the facts? If Russia finds poor economic leadership within it's younger political figures will the leadership actually take away the complaint of evil to again expose the drive of oligarchy oppressing a strong Middle Class economy? Where are the facts to support that issue. It can be very real. Corporations can be very dangerous to economies as we have witnessed.
If corruption is so deep a logging company can be oppressed into a disadvantaged sale, what does that say about protections and bankruptcy rather than corporate takeover. The younger political figures of Russia are simply biding their time. It is known to be a strategy that works. It has a cost. The Old Guard should consider the alternatives to oppression and deal with the corruption known to exist.
Where is the Middle Class and the legislation in the Duma to support them to grow in number and strength? Where are the leaders of the Middle Class because to date the real news coming from Russia is the fall of the wealthy and their facilitators. Where are the political figures coming from the Middle Class to seek political office?
Much has to change in Russia, but, I am not convinced oppression is the path to seek, so much as exposure to eliminate it.
Oh, by the way, labor unions frequently drive the growth of a Middle Class quite successfully. It is a fact. Known to work. I would have loved for the employees and owner of the logging company come together in joint ownership to make it work. It would be an interesting model for Russia.
Sequestering wealth to a few is known to destroy itself over time. Every country needs a Middle Class to drive the economy with promise to their children. I think President Putin knows something about children and their future. He should build on it. Freedom of speech works both ways. It works for the unheard, the oppressed and the powerful.
Basis of charge (click here)
Navalny was charged with theft over a deal he arranged in 2009, when he was an assistant to the governor in Kirov — he found a middleman to buy timber from a struggling logging company. Because the middleman made a profit on the timber, the prosecution charged that Navalny had effectively deprived the lumber company of nearly $500,000 by getting it to agree to sell below market value.
If any business deal can lead to prison, Mikhail Prokhorov, the billionaire owner of the Brooklyn Nets and a former presidential candidate, wrote on Facebook, “I wonder how many talented young businessmen and lawyers right now, right here at this point, are mentally packing their bags?”
Yevgenia Albats, editor of New Times magazine, tweeted that the court had overturned capitalism.
In contrast to what has happened to Navalny, the former head of a Moscow district who was convicted of embezzling $42 million was given five years of probation by a judge on July 7....
A Russian court released opposition leader (click here) and anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny from custody Friday, as the five-year prison sentence handed down to him the day before will only come in force in ten days, after his appeal is heard.
Navalny was taken into custody Thursday after being sentenced by a court in the city of Kirov for masterminding a 2009 embezzlement scheme involving a state-owned timber supply company in the Kirov region. Navalny has denied the charges, claiming the trial was politically motivated and orchestrated by the Kremlin in response to his role in organizing a series of massive public protests against President Vladimir Putin.
The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office requested Navalny be released from custody until his sentence comes into legal force. If Navalny does not appeal the verdict, he will have to go to prison in 10 days, it said....
Appeals have been known to work. So many of these oppositional cases are considered to be politically motivated. I would not discourage free and open speech in lieu of a revolt. These cases so seldom make the media until they appear to be seeking appeal it is nearly impossible to measure the sincere underground opposition of the current government.
One of the members (click here) of Pussy Riot jailed in Russia has been set free
after an appeal. Her two band mates lost the appeal and must serve the
remaining two years of their sentence for inciting religious hatred.
Yekaterina Samutsevich, pictured center above, was given a suspended
sentence instead of jail time, but her band mates - Nadezhda
Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina - had their sentences upheld.The appeals court in Moscow heard the appeal of the three women on Wednesday....
I suppose Alexei Navalny could have used an anti-corruption blog to hide any embezzlement, but, the two are separate. Embezzlement is one reality and the point he was making in his anti-corruption blog is another reality. One does not equate the other. There is nothing saying others cannot pick up with the blog posts should his appeal fail.
I did find this blog in English (click here)
There is an extensive biography on Wikipedia (click here)
It is common knowledge there is corruption in Russia. Some results in deaths within Moscow. For as progressive as Moscow likes to be, there is a very dark side. It isn't as through evidence doesn't exist to point a finger at oppression though.
Paul Klebnikov an investigative journalist was murdered July 9, 2004. There were accusations of three Chechen men being responsible only to be acquitted with one still missing.
It is difficult to blame the Russian leadership because it can be argued people who decent are safer in prison. That is not the case either. There is a pervasive insult to those that speak out even in prison and they die in a cell.
Opposition that is important such as engaged by Alexei Navalny has a place in Moscow media and otherwise. Someone willing to be intelligently involved in rooting out corruption which leads from the street to the prisons can't be ignored. Perhaps rather than Russia citizens risking their lives President Putin should have a blog about the deep seated corruption in the country. Bringing it out into the light is the best venue for adequately dealing with it. It removes the power the government has no control over and will ultimately punish the real enemy, the embezzlement of freedom.
I wish Mr. Alexei Navalny much success in his appeal.
And to President Putin. Control at every turn is not the answer. He should remember how openness developed a trust of him among the Russian people.
I think I make my point when embezzlement includes selling a failing logging company. Sometimes the failure of the company can be arranged and that is what is at the heart of Mr. Navalny's charges. For if the company didn't fail there would be no sale, now would there?
I have to disagree with Mr. Prokhorov. He sounds so Wall Street with no empathy for the former owner of the logging company. Wouldn't you say? The New York Times might be right and this is a sincere opposition to capitalism, but, is that all that bad?
The point is that if Russia opposes the corruption of wealth within it's society that result in costs to the poor, what will it do?
If the logging company is found to be the victim of economic corruption in capitalistic take overs, where are the facts? If Russia finds poor economic leadership within it's younger political figures will the leadership actually take away the complaint of evil to again expose the drive of oligarchy oppressing a strong Middle Class economy? Where are the facts to support that issue. It can be very real. Corporations can be very dangerous to economies as we have witnessed.
If corruption is so deep a logging company can be oppressed into a disadvantaged sale, what does that say about protections and bankruptcy rather than corporate takeover. The younger political figures of Russia are simply biding their time. It is known to be a strategy that works. It has a cost. The Old Guard should consider the alternatives to oppression and deal with the corruption known to exist.
Where is the Middle Class and the legislation in the Duma to support them to grow in number and strength? Where are the leaders of the Middle Class because to date the real news coming from Russia is the fall of the wealthy and their facilitators. Where are the political figures coming from the Middle Class to seek political office?
Much has to change in Russia, but, I am not convinced oppression is the path to seek, so much as exposure to eliminate it.
Oh, by the way, labor unions frequently drive the growth of a Middle Class quite successfully. It is a fact. Known to work. I would have loved for the employees and owner of the logging company come together in joint ownership to make it work. It would be an interesting model for Russia.
Sequestering wealth to a few is known to destroy itself over time. Every country needs a Middle Class to drive the economy with promise to their children. I think President Putin knows something about children and their future. He should build on it. Freedom of speech works both ways. It works for the unheard, the oppressed and the powerful.
Basis of charge (click here)
Navalny was charged with theft over a deal he arranged in 2009, when he was an assistant to the governor in Kirov — he found a middleman to buy timber from a struggling logging company. Because the middleman made a profit on the timber, the prosecution charged that Navalny had effectively deprived the lumber company of nearly $500,000 by getting it to agree to sell below market value.
If any business deal can lead to prison, Mikhail Prokhorov, the billionaire owner of the Brooklyn Nets and a former presidential candidate, wrote on Facebook, “I wonder how many talented young businessmen and lawyers right now, right here at this point, are mentally packing their bags?”
Yevgenia Albats, editor of New Times magazine, tweeted that the court had overturned capitalism.
In contrast to what has happened to Navalny, the former head of a Moscow district who was convicted of embezzling $42 million was given five years of probation by a judge on July 7....
