Russia Launches Campaign Against a Blogger

Recently, Savva Terentyev, a citizen of the town of Siktivkar, 22, was charged for the first Russian case of posting abusive comments in the popular online blog LiveJournal.com. It all started with an insult of the Russian police, but Russia is charging him with "inciting racial and religious hatred and word abusing of law-enforcement authorities."

The spokesman of the Siktivkar Court said that “thorough text expertise concluded Terentyev’s comment to incite hatred on base of religious, political or cultural differences, and also to abuse people publicly by means of mass media”.

"In case proved guilty, Terentyev will be either charged the fine of 4 up to 12 thousand dollars or will have to pay off his 1 to 2-year minimum salary, or will be forced to obligatory work for 180 hours. The case started a year ago, when Terentyev posted a comment in the blog of one of komi’s journalist. The comment was a rough offence to the police. In a few days Terentyev’s apartment was raided and system block with floppies was withdrawn."

To read the full story, click here.

This shows just how controlled public speech and also that civil liberties are severely limited. I found this an interesting article because it is based around a blog post that resulted in such a huge "crime." A story like this makes one appriciate the fact that our government in the US can't charge the public with crimes like this yet.

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Russian Convict Denied Medical Transfer

"A court in Russia has ruled that a jailed former top manager of the disbanded oil group Yukos cannot be transferred to a clinic for treatment." Vasily Aleksanyan, placed in prison two years ago after being found guilty of embezelment, is reported to have AIDS. The Yukos founder, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who is also in prison, said Mr Aleksanyan had been refused medication and deliberately placed in poor conditions refusing to sign false confessions. "He said he had no choice but to "abandon the legal framework" and start a hunger strike."

"I am facing an impossible moral choice: admit to crimes I haven't committed and save the life of a man, but destroy the fate of innocents who will be charged as my accomplices," Vasily Aleksanyan said. He also claims that he has developed serious health complications and is nearly blind. Mr Khodorkovsky's international lawyer Robert Amsterdam said Russia was "flouting not only international law but the norms of morality". "

To read the story in its entirety, click here.

This may become an issue with other nations if Vasily Aleksanyan dies in prison because he did not recieve proper medical treatment, which could, in turn, spur an international distrust towards Russia on top of their assistance to Iran's nuclear program. It may also draw questions on their justice system and the manner of punishment.

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