Posted on 11/19/2004 6:26:01 PM PST by TapTheSource
Putin’s Fascism and Klebnikov's Murder
Alexandr Nemets Monday, Aug. 2, 2004
Russia under President Vladimir Putin has become Murder Inc.
The cold-blooded assassination of Paul Klebnikov, editor of Forbes Russian edition, on June 10 in Moscow proves this claim. Western media appeared shocked by the killing of one of their own; though of Russian descent, Klebnikov, 41, was an American working for one of the West’s most influential business publications. There had long been the view that Westerners working in Russia were protected and that Russian crimes were largely fratricidal.
No longer.
Now that Klebnikov has joined the list of 15 journalists who have been murdered since 2000 (none of the murders has ever been solved), the regime and oligarchs may have even less restraint in the future in dealing with their enemies, foreign and domestic.
After the Klebnikov killing, I reviewed the pro-government Moscow media for their handling of the case.
Most of the major media, especially the broadcast media, are controlled by the government. NTV, the last independent TV network, is now effectively under government control.
All of the establishment media played down Klebnikov’s murder. Business as usual.
But there is a small but vibrant opposition media, fractured and less well known.
This opposition media expressed shock and disgust at Klebnikov’s assassination.
Putin Regime Tied to Criminal Activity
The most prominent opposition organ, Zavtra weekly, published an editorial about Klebnikov by its editor in chief, Alexandr Prokhanov.
Prokhanov says he had close ties to Klebnikov.
He blames Klebnikov’s death on Russia’s criminal enterprises – which he argues are all tied to Putin’s regime.
He writes: “Large Russian business is merely a bloody ball of mucus, oil, hexogen, torn-away heads and limbs. ... Now they murdered Paul Klebnikov, the enterprising and meticulous editor of Russia’s Forbes. He came to Moscow for economic reconnaissance, to find out the enormity of criminal business activities in Russia. He named all of Russia’s criminal billionaires. Particularly, he had to explain to world readers why Luzhkov, the ‘poor and disinterested’ mayor of Moscow, has no home of his own but has a billionaire wife, Yelena Baturina, owner of many prosperous enterprises. Klebnikov had also questioned why Moscow terminated the criminal case against the governor of the Saratov region, Ayatskov, who has been engaged in many dirty affairs. Klebnikov’s curiosity has now been satisfied by a shot in the head.
“Almost simultaneously to Klebnikov’s murder, these criminals tried to kill by hand grenade Viktor Cherepkov, who was favored to become the new mayor of Vladivostok city, the capital of the ‘Maritime criminal region.’
“In this Far Eastern city, huge gangs control the fishing, timber and gold business, as well as drug trafficking. They also help to settle Chinese on Russian territory. Brave Viktor Cherepkov is known as a crime fighter.
“Russian large business – that is, that controlled by the oligarchs – is behind all outstanding crimes and all terrible laws adopted by the state Duma. They are closely related to Putin and supported by him. … The forthcoming revolution will destroy the present unnatural Russian world, including both the oligarchs and politicians.”
The same issue of Zavtra commented on Klebnikov’s death, in a survey of outstanding news:
“The murder of Russian Forbes editor Paul Klebnikov became a black mark on the reputation of President Putin and his entire regime. High-level friends of the position of Klebnikov in the American media elite won’t allow the Russian authorities to ‘sink’ this case.
“This tragedy will be intensively discussed by world media in the framework of an emerging anti-Putin campaign. The danger to Putin’s image and reputation is so high that Putin gave unprecedented orders to the Russian Foreign Ministry and its 130 ambassadors abroad, and to his secret services that they should undertake actions that will promote a positive image of Russia in the foreign mass media.
“According to the most probable versions, the murder of Paul Klebnikov was ordered by several Moscow oligarchs, who were taken ‘out of the shadow’ by the publication in Forbes of the ‘100 richest people of Russia’ list. It seems that an investigation of this crime will fail, because the murder’s accomplices and organizers were killed within a day of Klebnikov’s death. This information came from circles close to the Russian Interior Ministry. …”
‘Total criminalization of Russia’
The article “Mafia pays in bullets,” published by the newspaper Sovetskaya Rossiya on July 13, is also of real interest. The brief version of this article follows:
“The Klebnikov murder is a new bold step in the total criminalization of Russia. In the background of this murder was the simultaneous attempt to murder Viktor Cherepkov in Vladivostok, made to look like an ordinary death.
“Paul Klebnikov was shot on the evening of Friday, June 9, near the Russian Forbes building by two killers, who approached a Zhiguli car. Klebnikov took several bullets to the chest and stomach, and died on the way to hospital.
“The 41-year old Klebnikov had gotten an excellent education, spoke fluent Russian and had written several books related to Russian/Soviet history of the 20th century. And Klebnikov’s last book, ‘Godfather of the Kremlin,’ describing the role of Boris Berezovsky, solidified his international reputation.
“Recently Klebnikov, engaged in serious investigations, was becoming a weighty figure in Russia’s economic and political life and a frequent participant on Moscow TV shows. Russia’s Forbes enjoyed a growing number of subscribers. The recent publishing by Forbes of Russia’s 100 richest people and the amount of their wealth became a major sensation.
“This report was like thunder out of a blue sky. Russian oligarchs perfectly understand the criminal nature of their fortunes and prefer not to reveal their wealth. Klebnikov’s investigation exposed the following fact, extremely unpleasant for the present Russian ‘elite’: A tiny group controls a formidable part of Russia’s GDP, while the government routinely claims a lack of money for the most essential needs.
“Many criminal oligarchs, who used to enjoy a safety life in the shadows, suddenly appeared inside a bright circle of light. The consequences of Klebnikov’s list are very understandable. The contract killer has become a routine factor of Russia’s economic and political life.
’Bandit Capitalism’
“In America a journalist, exposing the dirty tricks of top corporate executives or even the president himself, would get honor and glory, while his victim is doomed for impeachment, firing or even jail. Russian ‘bandit capitalism’ works in quite the opposite way.
“In Russia, there is a de facto prohibition by police and the legal system to investigate large-scale economic crimes. Their activity is limited to ‘small thieves’ only as well as to prosecuting political opponents. That’s because the criminal oligarchs make up the core of Putin’s regime.
“By the way, Klebnikov’s murder shows perfectly that so-called “media freedom” has become a non-existing phenomena in Russia – if it ever existed here after 1991. In reality, the only remaining freedom here is the freedom for oligarchs and their ‘media lap dogs’ to cheat people.
“In addition, during the last several months, the Kremlin has limited the oligarchs’ access to the microphone and TV cameras. The mass media are presently de facto controlled by bureaucrats, who are smashing the smallest signs of opposition.
“At the same time, Russian oligarchs solved their media problems, to some degree, by eliminating this nasty American journalist. In just a short time, the remnants of media freedom have been suffocated by two forces: by bureaucrats who have used economic and administrative pressure, and by the shadow world of criminal oligarchs, who used contract killers. And this took place immediately after the recent ‘controlled elections’ of the state Duma and the Russian president. The claims about Russian democracy ‘entering the civilized world’ are now laughed at even in the West.
“It is possible to expect now that Putin himself, based on concerns for his reputation, will take Klebnikov’s investigation under his own ‘supreme’ control.
“However, there are no doubts that Klebnikov’s murderers and the direct organizers of his murder won’t be found. That’s because the entire Russian government system, including the police and judiciary, are irreversibly rotten and paralyzed.
“And, of course, nobody will dare to touch the real ‘murder customers’ from Russia’s “Golden 100,” who considered Klebnikov as their mortal enemy after publishing his list in Russia’s Forbes. Simply, Russia’s ‘bandit capitalism’ killed his critic.”
’Fascist’ Russia No Friend of U.S.
Here is one more item of import from Sovetskaya Rossiya, published on July 20, entitled “Execution in gangster style: The murder of Paul Klebnikov”:
“In April 2004, Paul Klebnikov became the editor in chief of Russian Forbes, which received extreme notoriety from Russia’s economic and political elite after publishing the list of the 100 richest Russians.
“Several Russian oligarchs asked Klebnikov not to publish their names and the amount of their wealth. Some of them, reportedly, even offered Klebnikov huge bribes for this purpose. In any case, the murder of Klebnikov frustrated the world media. Many American, British and German papers and magazines are publishing comments extremely unpleasant for Moscow. Their major conclusion is ‘Paul Klebnikov showed the real face of Russian bandit capitalism and was murdered for this.’
“One more conclusion of the foreign media: ‘The word freedom and media freedom are dead in Russia.’ This is correct: Only those journalists in Russia who obey the government and are the members of the ‘Kremlin media pool’ have the freedom to glorify Putin and the government.
“Klebnikov wrote in the first issue of Russia’s Forbes that Russia was now entering a new and better epoch. And he really hoped for this. However, his death proved the opposite. Remarkably, Klebnikov intended to publish a list of Russia’s 500 richest people.”
The Klebnikov death should not be viewed in a vacuum but rather as part of the growing authoritarian takeover in Russia.
As the New York-based Russian-language TV channel RTV recently reported, the Klebnikov killing came as the Kremlin is taking the final steps of seizing Yukos, one of Russia’s largest oil companies.
At about the same time, Putin signed the decree expanding FSB (KGB) powers to an unprecedented level.
And RTV notes that the last "semi-independent" Moscow TV channel, NTV, had fired its last independent-minded journalists.
Russia is being transformed into a fascist state ruled by its secret police and the organized criminal mafias the state secretly controls.
Be warned: Russia is no friend of the United States.
What is particularly alarming is that the FSB has recently established a special division – with huge financing and great authority – to control and influence Russians who live in the U.S., Israel and elsewhere. Reportedly, a large network of FSB agents already "works" on American territory for this purpose.
Back in 2002, I wrote that Russia had turned the corner and was fast becoming a Nazi-style regime. At that time the view was not popularly held. Today in Russia it is.
To learn more about the anti-Amercan Russia/Red China alliance, please read Kenneth R. Timmerman's excellent article entitled: "China and Russia Align Against U.S."
http://www.insightmag.com/main.cfm?include=detail&storyid=161248
Your picture is hilarious (and very telling). Do go back and ad Putin's image...it's only fitting.
The vile, savagely murderous thugs that staffed the KGB and the GRU are still there. And the illegals/sleepers spread around the world in '90 - did they all go home and form Boy Scout troops?
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2004/09/1-rus/rus-290904.asp
MOSCOW POLICE ARREST TWO IN CONNECTION WITH AMERICAN JOURNALIST'S SLAYING...
Moscow police chief Lieutenant General Vladimir Pronin announced on 28 September that authorities have arrested two residents of Chechnya who are accused of killing the editor in chief of the Russian version of "Forbes" magazine, ITAR-TASS, RIA-Novosti, and other media reported. U.S. national Paul Klebnikov was gunned down in the Russian capital in July (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 11 and 13 July 2004). Pronin, who did not disclose the suspects' names, said ballistics tests show that one of three handguns confiscated from the men is the weapon used to kill Klebnikov. The suspects were detained after allegedly demanding ransom for two people whom they had kidnapped, RIA-Novosti reported. The suspects have denied any part in the Klebnikov slaying, saying they obtained the weapon in question from a third party. "Rossiiskaya gazeta" and ntv.ru meanwhile reported on 28 September that investigators are pursuing one scenario that would implicate a one-time member of Chechen leader Aslan Maskhadov's former government, Khozh-Akhmed Nukhaev. Klebnikov published a book in 2003, titled "Conversations with a Barbarian," in which former Chechen field commander Nukhaev speaks candidly about business deals that include the alleged diversion of funds from Tyumen oil exports to the Chechen resistance. VY
...ALTHOUGH JOURNALISTS QUESTION EXISTENCE OF CHECHEN LINK...
Leonid Bershidskii, the publisher of "Forbes" in Russia, said on 28 September that he sees no connection between Klebnikov's book and his slaying. "It was a pretty strongly worded, anti-separatist, anti-Islamic book in which he investigated a lot of things, including Chechens, and there could have been a million possibilities," he told Reuters on 28 September. Oleg Panfilov, the director of the Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations, told Ekho Moskvy on 28 September that he does not believe reports of a Chechen link. He reportedly allowed for the possibility of "some coincidence or even a campaign," concluding, "I think that in this case, the authorities are trying to milk the Chechen connection for all it's worth." VY
...DESPITE UNCANNY TIMING OF DOCUMENTARY...
NTV aired a prime-time documentary titled "Contract Killing" on 26 September -- two days before the announcement that two Chechen suspects were detained over Klebnikov's death -- that implies indirect links between former Chechen field commander Nukhaev, oil giant Yukos, a suspected murderer for hire, and Klebnikov's killing. The program includes an excerpt of an interview with Klebnikov in which he describes Nukhaev as "not Islamic, but [of a] bandit mentality, the mentality of a barbarian." The NTV documentary then claims that shortly before his death, Klebnikov was interested in pursuing the "links between the Russian businessmen and the Caucasian criminal world." VY
...AND YUKOS'S FORMER CEO DEFENDS COMPANY'S NAME
The jailed former head of Yukos, Mikhail Khodorkovskii, published a statement on his website (http://www.khodorkovsky.ru) on 24 September in which he lashes out at reports linking him or Yukos after its privatization to the Caucasian underworld or to Nukhaev. Khodorkovskii cites a piece by a "Moskovskii komsomolets" investigative reporter in particular. He also concedes that Yukos had been penetrated by criminal elements prior to its privatization. But he says that "after the company's privatization in 1995, we managed to rid the company of total control by bandits, including those from Chechnya." Khodorkovskii adds that an ongoing campaign of "public slander and speculation" directed at him is nothing more than a settling of accounts and an attempt to hide those really responsible for the "problem of banditry." VY
"Sounds like this Forbes journalist had a deathwish."
Given all the other murders Nemets mentions, Klebnikov must have known his life was in danger. Thus, I prefer to think that he sacrificed his life to warn the world about Putin's re-Sovietization of poor Russia.
"The vile, savagely murderous thugs that staffed the KGB and the GRU are still there. And the illegals/sleepers spread around the world in '90 - did they all go home and form Boy Scout troops?"
Could not have said it better myself. Thanks for the post.
"With his own muslim problem, is it such a surprise that this is happening?"
The basic premise of the article is "Given Putin's KGB/Mafia connections, is it such a surprise that this is happening?"
Klebnikov was exposing the "oligarchs" and Putin is prosecuting these "oligarchs".
Who killed Kirov? Stalin asked. But he already knew.
I doubt this. I don't think he cares about world revolution any more. Yes he is rebuilding his country in the only way he knows, which is top-down-control.
But this is needed. Russia had slipped into near chaos since the end of the Soviet Union, with armed in-fighting (russian army tanks fireing on their congress sit-ins) and it was scarcely able to defend itself, - rusting navy, Beslan, etc. The Russian Mob was more powerfull than the Russian military.
He has to do something. He may be heavy handed, but he IS elected and did have opposition unlike the old Soviet days.
He does not want Russia to be powerless, (and I wouldn't either if I was a Russian). Is he all sweetness and light? I doubt it. But I also doubt he is the evil monster most make him out to be. I suspect the Clintons have had as many people killed in their regiem
"Who killed Kirov? Stalin asked. But he already knew."
Very perceptive, Tet.
I think Walter Williams would say that this is an oxymoron.
Sounds like Rasputin wants the "old russia" back real quick.
Paul Klebnikov was a vibrantly alive and life-loving man. He left a lovely young wife and three children, family and friends, old schoolmates, who all mourn the loss of this bright star. His lifelong goal was to return to the Russia his ancestors fled under the Tsars, to help its people free themselves from the shackles of socialist serfdom.
He was witty, sardonic, intellectually disciplined, and courageous, though not reckless. He loved life. b.
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