Most people will probably agree with the above statement.
What has Putin critics concerned is that the above facts might indicate that:
1. Putin is persecuting unpopular individuals for political gain.For instance, consider this article written by a Russian-American:2. There is no independent judiciary in Russia.
3. The Russian media are Putin' puppets.
Before Oct. 25, Russia seemed to be firmly settled into a political order that some political scientists charitably called a 'guided democracy." According to Yevgenya Albats, a famous Russian journalist and a current visiting professor at Yale, Russia has not had freedom of speech for over a year. Important political positions are still elected; however, every election that President Putin's administration considered important was fixed. No ballots were falsified, but the government made sure that every single media source supported pro-Putin candidates and that the names of strong opposition candidates disappeared from the ballot, according to Polit.ru, an independent internet-based news source. Given the lack of any tradition of an independent judiciary in Russia, most courts also caved quickly to political pressure. Formal institutions became increasingly irrelevant. According to Gleb Pavlovsky, an influential Russian political commentator, two factions within Putin's administration made all of the important decisions.Btw, I hope that you, Russian freepers, keep posting your ideas here, since I value your opinions as a good counterbalance to our media outlets.The first faction could be designated as the "liberals," led by Putin's former Chief-of-Staff Alexander Voloshin. The liberals were not interested in such trifling things as freedom of speech or free elections. Still, they did understand the fact that Russia needed to conduct economic policy that would encourage investment and promote economic growth. The recent yearly GDP growth of over 6 percent for the last four years in Russia is largely due to the reforms that this faction promoted. In general, Voloshin's group realized that investors' confidence is of paramount importance for economic growth and thus shielded businesses from government harassment. They also recognized that it is necessary to at least pretend to follow the formal channels, like legislatures and courts.
The second faction consists of Putin's old KGB buddies. They do not hold any particular political preferences, according to Albats. Their main goal is to maintain order and to impose unlimited control of the state over Russian people. Their grasp of economic matters seems to be minimal. Whatever economic views they have seem to be closely aligned with the old Soviet method of command and control. They have no regard for legislatures or courts.
Until Oct. 25, these two groups seemed to balance each other out. On Oct. 25, it became obvious that the balance was broken when Russian security services arrested Mikhail Khodorkovsky, one of the richest men in Russia and head of the Yukos oil company.