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Wednesday, April 2, 2008 Volume 12 Number 62
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Russia
RUSSIA, U.S. WILL REPORTEDLY AGREE ON 'STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK' PACT AT SUMMITPresident Vladimir Putin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, said in Moscow on April 1 that Putin and U.S. President George W. Bush will adopt a document in Sochi on April 6 outlining a "strategic framework" for relations between their two countries, news agencies reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," March 27 and 28, 2008). Peskov added that "experts are working on a joint document, which will become a road map of our cooperation during a transitional period and for the medium term." He did not elaborate. Observers in both countries suggested recently that Bush and Putin might like to reach an agreement on missile defense and some other strategic issues before they leave office. In Washington on April 1, the House of Representatives endorsed a nonbinding resolution expressing the sense of Congress calling on Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to press Russian officials to cooperate with British investigators dealing with the 2006 London murder of former Russian security agent Aleksandr Litvinenko, AP reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," January 17, 18, 22, and 24, and February 19, 2008). Representative Howard Berman (Democrat, California), who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said that the killing raises "disturbing questions about how elements of the Russian government appear to deal with their enemies." PM BUSH SAYS RUSSIA HAS 'NO VETO' ON NATO ENLARGEMENT... On the eve of NATO's April 2-4 Bucharest summit, President Bush said at a joint press conference with President Viktor Yushchenko in Kyiv on April 1 that "we support [a NATO Membership Action Plan] MAP for Ukraine and Georgia," news agencies reported. The MAP is the final stage on the road to full membership in the alliance, which both Kyiv and Tbilisi seek (see "RFE/RL Newsline," March 28 and 31, and April 1, 2008). Bush stressed that "helping Ukraine move toward NATO membership is in the interest of every member in the alliance and will help advance security and freedom in this region and around the world." Referring to Russian opposition to those two countries joining NATO, Bush stressed that Moscow will not have a "veto" over NATO's decision. He said there is no link between Ukraine's and Georgia's NATO membership bids and a plan to deploy a U.S. missile-defense system in Europe, which Russia says is directed against it, a point that Washington firmly denies. In Bucharest on April 2, Bush said that Georgia and Ukraine "inspired the world with their Rose and Orange revolutions and now they're working to consolidate their democratic gains and cement their independence. Welcoming them into the [MAP] would send a signal to their citizens that if they continue on the path to democracy and reform, they will be welcomed into the institutions of Europe; it would send a signal throughout the region that these two nations are and will remain sovereign and independent states." He added that "my country's position is clear. NATO should welcome Georgia and Ukraine into the [MAP]." PM ...BUT GERMANY DISAGREES Deutsche Welle on April 2 quoted German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) as saying that there is "no convincing reason" at present to "burden" relations between NATO and Russia by deciding on a possible future NATO membership for Ukraine and Georgia. He warned that NATO must respect certain "limits" in its dealings with Russia (see End Note, "RFE/RL Newsline," March 17, 2008). "The Wall Street Journal" noted on April 2 that "after meeting with President Putin in Moscow on March 8, German Chancellor Angela Merkel hardened her opposition to opening NATO's door to Ukraine and Georgia. About 10 other member states took cover behind her. Ukraine is too divided over NATO, goes their argument, and Georgia's democracy too unsettled by last winter's street riots and early elections. And why -- the real reason -- annoy Russia?" PM RUSSIA SEEKS TO PRESSURE NATO AGAINST ENLARGEMENT Aleksei Ostrovsky, who heads the State Duma's Committee for Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) affairs and ties with compatriots abroad, said in a broadcast of RFE/RL's Russian Service on April 1 that the Russian-Ukrainian Treaty on Friendship, Partnership, and Cooperation, which expires in 2009, should be at least revised, or perhaps even annulled. He added that "Russia should...at least choose not to extend the treaty when it expires a year from now" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," April 1, 2008). Ostrovsky said that "in the event of Ukraine's integration into NATO, what friendship, partnership, or cooperation can we talk about when an overwhelming majority of State Duma deputies are confident that NATO unfortunately will always be our country's opponent?" On April 2, Sergei Ryabkov, who heads the Foreign Ministry's department for European cooperation, was quoted by Interfax as saying that "we are in a situation where a very serious, powerful, and modern machine is moving closer and closer to those areas that we simply cannot help but consider a sphere of our own serious interests. We have to react sharply and directly, which we are doing." Ryabkov added that what he called NATO's attempts at assuming a global role are a "problem." The Russian daily "Vremya novostei" commented on April 2 that President Putin will attend a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council in Bucharest on April 4 in order "to minimize the geopolitical and military-strategic costs for Russia of NATO's inevitable further expansion to the east. Moscow is well aware that it has no veto power over NATO's admittance of Georgia and Ukraine. But it also understands that many NATO leaders, especially its European leaders, do not want to risk their close economic ties and other ties with Russia by rushing to admit Kyiv and Tbilisi into their ranks. The Russian leadership's tactics take this factor into account." PM FOREIGN MINISTER SPEAKS OF BLOCKING KOSOVA'S INTERNATIONAL INTEGRATION At a time when the United States and most EU member states are seeking to promote good relations between Kosova and the international community, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the State Duma on April 2 that "we have done all we could to disrupt plans to achieve quick and broad international recognition of Kosovo," news agencies reported. He added that "we are not allowing the Kosovo issue to be taken outside the United Nations and have prevented the UN secretary-general from consecrating the European Union's mission to Kosovo, which does not have a UN mandate." Lavrov stressed that "as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Russia has the ability to prevent Kosovo from becoming a full-fledged member" of the United Nations (see "RFE/RL Newsline," March 20 and 31, 2008). PM DOVGY SAYS CHARGES AGAINST HIM ARE ALSO AIMED AT BASTRYKIN Dmitry Dovgy, the head of the Investigative Committee's main investigative unit, said on April 1 that the corruption charges leveled against him by two senior Investigative Committee investigators were a "well-planned action," "Vremya novostei" reported on April 2. According to the newspaper, Dovgy did not reveal who was behind this action but said it was targeted not only against him, but also against Investigative Committee Chairman Aleksandr Bastrykin. "Thus he made it clear that the 'corruption scandal' that has flared up inside the committee was not initiated by its head, as some observers assume, but is advantageous to someone else," the paper wrote. Senior investigator Sergei Chernyshov claimed Dovgy was paid 2 million euros ($3.1 million) to release former Trust Bank Chairman Oleg Kolyda from custody in an embezzlement case involving Yukos subsidiary Tomskneft. Zigmund Lozhis, also a senior investigator, claimed that Dovgy received a $1.5 million bribe from one of the suspects in a criminal case brought against the director of a large Moscow company, Petro-Union. Dovgy's first deputy, Aleksei Novikov, and two other Investigative Committee employees -- Sergei Glukhikh, a department head, and Yury Yermakov, another senior investigator -- have also been temporarily relieved of their duties on suspicion of corruption and abuse of their official positions. According to "Vremya novostei," all four have asked the Prosecutor-General's Office for protection. Dovgy told prosecutors that his life is in danger, with his home under surveillance and "unknown persons in automobiles" shadowing him. Dovgy headed the team that has been investigating Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak, who was arrested on attempted embezzlement charges in November 2007, and Federal Antinarcotics Committee Lieutenant General Aleksandr Bulbov, who was arrested in October 2007. Both cases are widely seen as part of an ongoing power struggle between rival factions inside Russia's political and security establishments (see "RFE/RL Newsline," March 31, 2008) JB NEWSPAPER SAYS POLITKOVSKAYA'S KILLER IS HIDING ABROAD... The suspected murderer of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who is currently being sought by prosecutors, is hiding abroad, "Tvoi den" reported on April 2. On March 28, prosecutor Vyacheslav Smirnov told a military court that the "direct murderer of Politkovskaya" has been identified and that "every measure to search for and apprehend this person" is being taken, Interfax reported. Smirnov did not name the suspect. However, "Komsomolskaya pravda," citing "unofficial sources," reported on March 29 that Politkovskaya's possible killer is Rustam Makhmudov, a 30-year-old inhabitant of Chechnya. "Tvoi den," citing "reliable sources," reported that international search requests will be sent to Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, and Britain. According to the paper, Politkovskaya's suspected killer has been wanted by Russian law-enforcement for 11 years: in August 1997, he was charged with kidnapping, it reported. "Tvoi den" noted two other suspects in the Politkovskaya case, Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, a former officer in Moscow's anti-organized crime unit, and Federal Security Service (FSB) Lieutenant Colonel Pavel Ryaguzov were detained together in 2002 for abducting and beating someone. Meanwhile, the periods of pretrial detention for Khadzhikurbanov, Ryaguzov, and two other suspects in the Politkovskaya case, Dmitry Grachev and Dzhabrail Makhmudov, have been extended. It is not clear whether Shamil Burayev, the former administration head of Chechnya's Achkhoi-Martan Raion who was arrested last year as a possible accessory to the killing, remains in custody or has been charged. Burayev admitted knowing Ryaguzov but denied any connection with Politkovskaya's death (see "RFE/RL Newsline," September 17, 18, and 24, 2007, and October 19, 2007). JB ...BUT SOME SAY OSTENSIBLE BREAK IN THE CASE IS JUST PR Interfax on March 28 quoted Moscow Helsinki Group Chairwoman Lyudmila Alekseyeva as saying that the announcement that Politkovskaya's direct murderer has been identified was deliberately made on the eve of the Russia-NATO summit in Bucharest and the meeting between U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Putin. "The news that a suspect has been established is a sensation [aimed at] maintaining the reputation of our law-enforcement organs," Interfax quoted Alekseyeva as saying. "But we will be careful before celebrating victory: the person has not yet been arrested." As "The Moscow Times" reported on March 31, prosecutors announced last October that they had identified the man who killed Politkovskaya. JB JOURNALIST SAYS SHE'S RECEIVED ASYLUM IN BRITAIN Yelena Tregubova, the former "Kommersant" reporter and author of the best-selling book "Tales Of A Kremlin Digger" who fled Russia after an explosion caused minor damage outside the door of her Moscow apartment in 2004, told the Reuters news agency on April 2 that Britain has granted her political asylum. Reuters quoted Tregubova as saying from London that she applied for asylum because her life would be in danger in Russia due to opposition to her critical writings about the Kremlin under President Putin and that her asylum application was approved by Britain's Home Office. As newsru.com noted on April 2, in a BBC television interview in July 2007, Tregubova accused the Russian leadership of practicing censorship and thereby violating the Russian Constitution. Tregubova also said that when officials from the Russian Prosecutor-General's Office came to London and interviewed self-exiled Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky about the radiation poisoning death of former FSB officer Aleksandr Litvinenko, they tried to get Berezovsky to give them her address. JB TIME RUNS OUT FOR STARAVOITOVA MURDER PROBE Ruslan Linkov, the former aide to State Duma deputy Galina Starovoitova who was shot dead in St. Petersburg in November 1998, told Ekho Moskvy radio on April 1 that the FSB informed him that the investigation into her murder was ended on March 20. Linkov, who was shot and wounded in the attack that killed Starovoitova, said that the reasons that the FSB cited for closing the investigation were "a large volume of operational-investigative activities and also the termination of the period of investigation." Linkov called the decision "outrageous," saying the FSB had no legal basis for shutting down the investigation and that he plans to challenge the decision in court. "How can you end an investigation when it has not yet been established who ordered the murder; [when] the go-between, whose name was mentioned in court and whose location abroad is known to the law-enforcement organs, has not been caught; [when] those who directly carried out the murder have not been caught and appeared in court," Linkov said. In June 2005, the St. Petersburg City Court sentenced Yury Kolchin, a former military intelligence officer, to 20 years in prison for orchestrating Starovoitova's killing and Vitaly Akishin to 23 1/2 years in prison for pulling the trigger. Both were found guilty on charges of perpetrating a terrorist act and murder for political purposes. In September 2006, Vyacheslav Lelyavin was sentenced to 11 years in prison for his role in organizing the murder. JB EMBATTLED KALMYK OPPOSITIONIST REFUSES TO STEP DOWN Elista Mayor Rady Burulov said in an interview with the city newspaper "Elistinskaya panorama" that he will not abide by the municipal court ruling temporarily suspending him from discharging his duties, kavkaz-uzel.ru reported on April 2 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," March 31, 2008). Burulov, who in January called on republican President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov to step down, faces criminal charges in connection with a tender to supply the city with heating oil that was won by a company owned by members of his family. "Nezavisimaya gazeta" on April 1 quoted Nikolai Ochirov, a deputy to the recently elected Kalmykia parliament, as saying that Ilyumzhinov and Burulov may still reach an accommodation under which the latter will remain in office. A second parliament deputy, Nikolai Nurov, told kavkaz-uzel.ru on April 2 that a recent wave of dismissals has resulted in heightened social tensions in Elista, and that the opposition plans a protest demonstration on April 11-12 to coincide with the 15th anniversary of Ilyumzhinov's election as president. LF NORTH CAUCASUS RESISTANCE COMMANDER CHARGED WITH EXTREMISM The Russian Prosecutor-General's Investigation Board for Chechnya has opened a criminal case against Doku Umarov, self-styed amir of the North Caucasus and commander of the North Caucasus armed resistance, kavkaz-uzel.ru and "Kommersant" reported on April 1 and 2, respectively. Umarov is charged under Article 282, Paragraph 2 of the Russian Federation Criminal Code with inciting hatred in statements posted to the Internet last year in which he allegedly called for the killing of "unbelievers," including the leaders of the various North Caucasus republics. Chechen Prosecutor Valery Kuznetsov has asked the Russian Prosecutor-General's Office to review all criminal cases connected with Chechnya in order to determine which other crimes Umarov is suspected of involvement in. LF CHECHEN WOMAN'S KILLER DENIED PAROLE A court in the Ulyanovsk Oblast city of Dimitrovgrad has rejected an application for parole by Colonel Yury Budanov, whom the North Caucasus Military Court sentenced in 2003 to 10 years' imprisonment for the murder in March 2000 of 18-year-old Elza Kungayeva, the daily "Kommersant" reported on April 2 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," January 3, March 3, and July 28, 2003). This is the third time that Budanov has unsuccessfully applied for parole (see "RFE/RL Newsline," August 21, 2007). LF
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