Free Republic

Some members of the European Parliament (MEPs) deemed yesterday’s resolution on Russian non-compliance with the rule of law to be much too soft, and now seek sanctions against Russian officials implicated in human rights abuses. As reported in the media, the European Parliament has three enumerations: there is the ‘Khodorkovsky list’, which includes those involved in imposing harsh sentences in the Yukos case; the ‘Magnitsky list’, with the names of those accused of the death in jail of the lawyer for Hermitage Capital Management; and the ‘Nemtsov list’, in which appear the persecutors of Russian opposition leaders. The latter list...

Nemtsov begins by pointing out that Putin enjoyed an average oil price more than double what Yeltsin had to work with, five times greater in recent months, and that Putin has not used any of the oil windfall to “carry out economic reforms, create a modern army, and establish public health and pension systems.” All but the economy, he says, have degraded, and the economy has merely been “stabilized through a stroke of luck” having nothing to do with Putin. He shows that there were already clear signs of recovery before Putin came to power, and argues convincingly that the...

Irina Khakamada is running for president but her campaign headquarters are not bustling. Phones aren't ringing off the hook and no one is barking instructions. This is no Clinton-style war room, yet this lone warrior still looks battle-weary. She says she harbors no illusions of unseating President Vladimir Putin, but that's not the point. "We're fighting so that people raise their voices," she says, not fighting to win. "That costs less." But it's not clear just who is raising their voices in support. Speculation that she is a mercenary front for the Kremlin or oligarch interests has made it difficult...

<p>MOSCOW -- The allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin won a historic victory in elections at the weekend, giving the Kremlin effective control of the Duma, or lower house of parliament, for the first time since the fall of the Soviet Union. Mr. Putin's allies in the United Russia party gained most at the expense of the Communist Party, which continued to wither. But the elections also contained two much less savory aspects: a huge protest vote from those who have yet to benefit from his rule, and a collapse in support for the only parties committed to Western-style liberalism.</p>