It was a classic peremptory gesture worthy of a Tsar.
Vladimir Putin’s apparent announcement of an imminent pardon to one of his most important rivals speaks volumes for the way politics and the law are conducted in Russia.
Having spent $50 billion dollars on the forthcoming Sochi Winter Olympics, the most expensive in the history of the games, the president has been clearing the decks.
He wants the world to marvel at the efficiency and modernity of his Russia. He does not want niggling questions about human rights to detract from his personal spectacle.
And so, with a flourish of the hand, he ensures that his parliament passes a law granting an amnesty to 20,000 prisoners, including the Pussy Riot and the Amnesty Arctic protesters. The Amnesty decision was expected: to keep 30 mainly Western environmentalists in jail would have caused their governments an acute dilemma in deciding whether to attend the games. Full story...
Related posts:
Vladimir Putin’s apparent announcement of an imminent pardon to one of his most important rivals speaks volumes for the way politics and the law are conducted in Russia.
Having spent $50 billion dollars on the forthcoming Sochi Winter Olympics, the most expensive in the history of the games, the president has been clearing the decks.
He wants the world to marvel at the efficiency and modernity of his Russia. He does not want niggling questions about human rights to detract from his personal spectacle.
And so, with a flourish of the hand, he ensures that his parliament passes a law granting an amnesty to 20,000 prisoners, including the Pussy Riot and the Amnesty Arctic protesters. The Amnesty decision was expected: to keep 30 mainly Western environmentalists in jail would have caused their governments an acute dilemma in deciding whether to attend the games. Full story...
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- Barack Obama cancels meeting with Vladimir Putin over Snowden row...
- Vladimir Putin creating 'worst human rights climate since Soviet times'
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