Trial of anti-Putin figure Alex Navalny ends

[Larry1]

Obviously, I have no knowledge of the evidence put on at Navalny's trial, but I have noticed a pattern: lots of people who publicly oppose Putin find themselves charged with crimes, and I can't think of one who was not convicted.  Putin's apologists will usually respond oh, but (insert name of jailed anti-Putin figure here) was a bad person who did bad things.  What about Alex Navalny?  Will he go to jail for years because he dared to challenge Putin and gathered a good deal of support?

Prosecutor Urges Six-Year Term for Russian Opposition Leader

By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
MOSCOW — In closing arguments on Friday, a prosecutor urged a Russian judge to convict the political opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny of embezzlement and sentence him to six years in jail — a verdict that would destroy his political career and eliminate him as a threat to President Vladimir V. Putin by imprisoning him until after the next presidential election.

Mr. Navalny is the most prominent opposition figure in modern Russia to face prosecution, and he has accused the Kremlin of pursuing trumped-up charges as political retribution. While forcefully denying the allegations, he has long said he expects to be convicted in the trial, which was streamed live online from Kirov, a regional capital. The verdict is to be delivered on July 18.

For more than a year, as Mr. Navalny helped to lead big street protests against Mr. Putin, the Kremlin seemed to waver between a desire to imprison him and a reluctance to galvanize his supporters by locking him up. Mr. Navalny has declared his candidacy for mayor of Moscow in an election to be held in September, but he has also said he hopes one day to be president.

“Change Russia,” proclaims a glossy pamphlet produced by his campaign. “Start with Moscow.” It adds the tag line, “Honest leadership — a European level of life.”

This particular case against Mr. Navalny — he faces several others — stems from a brief period when he served as an adviser to the governor of the Kirov region, for whom his work included efforts to reorganize a government-controlled timber company. Mr. Navalny and a co-defendant, Pyotr Ofitserov, a businessman and acquaintance who worked with him on the timber project, are charged with embezzling nearly $500,000. A third man accused in the scheme pleaded guilty and has cooperated with the prosecutors.

The prosecutor on Friday requested a five-year prison term for Mr. Ofitserov and a fine of about $30,000. If Mr. Navalny, 37, is convicted of criminal charges, he will be barred from running for any office. A six-year term, while less than the maximum possible sentence of 10 years, would, if served in full, keep him in prison until after Russia’s next presidential election in 2018.

In addition, the prosecutor, Sergei Bogdanov, asked the judge to impose a fine of about $30,000. “I believe that the punishment proposed by the state is just and proportionate to the committed crime and the loss suffered by the state,” Mr. Bogdanov said.

Mr. Navalny rose to prominence as an anticorruption blogger with a special knack for turning a scathing phrase. The most devastating was his branding of United Russia, which supported Mr. Putin for president, as “the party of swindlers and thieves” — which quickly became an unshakable catchphrase.

In a defiant speech in the courtroom on Friday, Mr. Navalny, wearing khaki slacks and a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, denounced the Russian government, and pledged to push ahead with his opposition activities.

“Myself and my colleagues will do everything possible to destroy this feudal regime being established in Russia,” he said. “If somebody thinks that having heard the threat of the six-year imprisonment I would run away abroad or hide somewhere, they are mistaken. I cannot run away from myself. I have nothing else but this, and I don’t want to do anything else but to help my country.”

He added, “This cannot last endlessly, that the 140-million-strong people of one of the biggest and richest countries are subjugated to a handful of bastards."

In the mayoral race, Mr. Navalny is challenging the popular, and heavily favored, Kremlin-backed incumbent, Sergei S. Sobyanin, who submitted his resignation this year in a maneuver to call early elections.

The risk of inciting Mr. Navalny’s supporters, and bolstering his stature as a rival of Mr. Putin, has prompted speculation that he will receive a suspended sentence. That would still end his political aspirations, however.

The Kremlin has insisted that it does not interfere in the justice system. But Mr. Navalny is just one of several opposition leaders now facing criminal charges seemingly unrelated to their political activity. Acquittals in Russian criminal cases are extremely rare.

The allegations against Mr. Navalny were originally investigated in Kirov and dropped by the local authorities, who said there was insufficient evidence of a crime. But the case was revived after being taken over by the federal Investigative Committee, which is led by Aleksandr I. Bastrykin, a close ally of President Putin.

Mr. Navalny has lived with the risk of being arrested for years, and has served several short-term detentions, typically after street protests. In recent months, however, the authorities have barred him from traveling abroad.

In the courtroom on Friday, one of Mr. Navalny’s lawyers, Olga Mikhailova, repeated the defense team’s denunciation of the case as politically motivated and unjust. “The character of the charges, the lack of real evidence from the prosecution, the judge’s dismissal of nearly all defense motions all bear witness that this trial does not answer to the rules of justice,” she said, “and is aimed at only one thing: to publicly discredit and sentence a famous civic and political activist for political motives.”

Mr. Bogdanov sought to portray the case as routine, with the notable exception of its celebrity defendant. “There are a great number of similar crimes, and there is nothing new in our criminal case, not in the goals, nor the means, nor the execution of the crime,” he said. “There is only one difference: the accused. It is he who evokes genuine interest in society and adds a special resonance to the case.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/06/world/europe/russian-prosecutor-urges-six-year-sentence-for-opposition-leader.html?ref=world&pagewanted=print&_r=0

[OlgaH]

I think a question regarding the revision of Stalin's role in the history of Russia justifying and glorifying his policies doesn't really need an answer. The same methods to rid off "disagreeables" work very well nowadays in Russia.

In Russia, support for Stalin has actually increased since the end of the Soviet Union.

There is a correlation between Stalin’s rehabilitation in Russia and the presidency of Vladimir Putin.

http://carnegieendowment.org/2013/03/01/stalin-puzzle-deciphering-post-soviet-public-opinion/fmz8

[mendeleyev]

In agreement with Larry and Olga that it was a foregone conclusion. The official conviction rate once a case goes to trial in Russia is at 99.1 percent with a less than 1% rate of the accused being exonerated.

In this case, unlike those previously, Navalny has a "movement" backing him and while he will go to prison, the grassroots impact of this imprisonment will be different that those jailed previously. In many Russian cities there are tent awning kiosks set up with printed materials about the Navalny court case and while I fully expect the government to move to remove those soon, millions of Russians will have been shown both sides of the story.

[Larry1]

As Mendy and OlgaH predicted, Alexei Navalny was convicted:

Opposition leader and anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny embraces wife and defence team as he is sentenced to five years in prison for embezzlement.

The opposition leader, who is also a Moscow mayoral candidate, was found guilty of embezzlement and stealing large amounts of property at the provincial court in Kirov. He was sentenced to five years in prison. Judge Sergei Blinov said a court had established his guilt in organising a fraudulent scheme to steal 10,000 cubic metres of wood, worth £325,000, while he was an adviser to the regional governor of Kirov. His co-defendant Petr Ofitserov, was also found guilty of embezzlement of large amounts of property and "failure to provide information for the investigation".

Mr Navalny arrived at Kirov station early this morning and made his way to the courthouse accompanied by his wife Yulia.There was a large media presence at the trial and widespread international criticism of the deicision.

The European Union said the jailing of Mr Navalny raised "serious questions" about the rule of law in Russia.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/10187945/Emotional-goodbyes-as-judge-finds-Alexei-Navalny-guilty.html

[Muzh]

Larry, I don't think there was any doubt anywhere in the world.

[mies]

So Navalnyi will never become a Russian President now.

[Hammer2722]

Or mayor of Moscow for that matter...

[mendeleyev]

Great topic, Larry.

- The court refused Navalny's defense request for an official audit to determine what was stolen, when and by whom. Prosecutors said an audit wasn't necessary to determine guilt and would be too time consuming.

- The Investigative Committee admitted at the start of the trial that the Navalny case was given priority because of his constant tormenting of the country's authorities.

- Navalny was accused of stealing in 2009 more timber than the company had the capacity to produce that year.

- Navalny's defense team was denied the right to call defense witnesses.

- Navalny's defense team was denied the right to cross-examine government witnesses.

- The government's star witness was a former company manager who had been fired for stealing and his sentence was suspended in exchange for his testimony.

- Navalny's co-defendant, Pyotr Ofitserov, turned down an offer of a suspended sentence if he would testify against Navalny.

- Defense lawyers for Navalny's co-defendant, who received a four year sentence on the same day as Navalny was sentenced, offered banking records and other proofs that the man lived a simple life in an older Moscow suburban apartment with no irregular bank transactions but the court ruled that such evidence was not a factor in the case.


Here is what we reported in the Mendeleyev Journal:

It was obvious from the start that the Navalny case was politically motivated and yesterday the Leninsky District court in Kirov sentenced Alexei Navalny to five years in prison for allegedly stealing timber from a company in which Navalny had been a director.

The tip-off that a prison sentence was about to be handed down came the day before yesterday when Moscow Mayor (acting) Sergei Sobyanin certified Navalny's candidacy for the Moscow mayoral election, saying that the city had made the certification a priority in order to show fairness to Navalny. Now that he has been convicted and sentenced his candidacy for mayor is no longer valid.



Navalny on his way from Moscow to Kirov for sentencing.

When pressed prosecutors office spokesman Vladimir Markin denied that the trail was political but admitted that the Navalny case had received priority status because Navalny's political activities amounted to "teasing" the authorities.

We might point out that the prosecution's star witness was the former timber manager who had been fired for stealing. It was near comical in that the government charged Navalny with stealing more timber in 2009 than the company had the capacity to produce annually.

Perhaps the biggest signal for this being a bogus trial was that the theft charges took place without an audit. An official audit would certainly shed light on who stole what and how much was stolen. One of Navalny's defense strategies was to request that a government audit be conducted however prosecutors argued that an audit wasn't necessary to determine guilt and would be too time consuming. The court ruled in favour of the prosecutor, something almost guaranteed in Russian courts.


Navalny (left) in Kirov courtroom at the defense table.

In addition to denying the request for a state audit, Judge Blinov barred the defense from calling 13 witnesses and did not allow the defense to cross-examine prosecution witnesses. A second co-defendant, Vyacheslav Opalev, opted to testify against Navalny and received a suspended sentence. During the trial Opalev appeared to give contradictory evidence but defense lawyers were not allowed to cross-examine him.

Navalny's co-defendant Pyotr Ofitserov was sentenced to four years in prison. Ofitserov had been promised a suspended sentence if he testified against Navalny but he refused. Defense attorneys showed the court that Ofitserov lived a simple life in a Moscow suburb with no records of banking transactions that would accompany hundreds of thousands of dollars customary with stealing large amounts of timber but to no avail. Unlike Navalny, Mr. Ofitserov has not been active in political opposition.

Reaction from Russian activists was swift: Former Soviet president Mikhail S. Gorbachev reacted by saying that the Navalny case was further “proof that we do not have independent courts” and that “using the courts against political opponents is unacceptable.”


Navalny with his wife Yulia at a political rally last year.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, jailed former Yukos Oil CEO labeled the verdict “predictable and inevitable because for Russia there is nothing unusual in the state convicting political opponents on criminal charges — from the times of Stalin's terror to the days of Khrushchev and Brezhnev." Khodorkovsky also wrote, "our judicial-legal system has diligently portrayed opponents of the regime as ordinary criminals, allowing the heads of state to hypocritically make statements about the absence of political prisoners.”

One of the most damning to the reactions was from long-time Putin ally and now former Treasury Minister Alexei Kudrin who commented on Twitter that “The verdict seems less like a punishment and more like it is aimed at isolating him from society and from the election process.” 

Just released polls show that the continued arrests of opposition rally leaders is having a chilling effect on the Russian public. In a Levada Centre poll released yesterday just 11 percent of those questioned said they would take part in future political rallies.

Popular Moscow Echo radio host Sergei Parkhomenko announced that he was surprised by the verdict because Navalny's imprisonment would cause Russian citizens to lose faith in the electoral process.

Outspoken crime novelist Boris Akunin, also a political opposition leader, echoed similar sentiments, saying that the conviction meant the end of real elections. “Lifetime deprivation of elections — this is what the verdict means not only for Navalny but for all who thought it was possible to change this system through elections.” Mr. Akunin wrote that “as long as the Putin regime is alive, there will not be elections. The answer to the question ‘to be, or not to be’ that is to boycott or not boycott, has been answered."

[mendeleyev]

Just as in the Yukos case, expect more charges in the coming months. Five years is not long enough to keep Navalny out of Putin's hair so Navalny's troubles haven't ended by any stretch.

I feel sorry for him, his wife Yulia and their two young children, Dasha and Zahar. The family status combined with such absurdly bogus charges make this an especially cruel sentence. Navalny is just 37 years old.

Ironically, Federal investigators had previously cleared Navalny and others of any involvement when the man who turned out to be the star state witness was initially charged with theft. That man actually worked for the timber company in a management role. Navalny, an attorney, was the legal adviser to the region's governor. The timber company is owned by that regional government.

[Muzh]

Meanwhile the population mumbles.

[Larry1]

Great topic, Larry.

Thanks Mendy.

- The court refused Navalny's defense request for an official audit to determine what was stolen, when and by whom. Prosecutors said an audit wasn't necessary to determine guilt and would be too time consuming.

- The Investigative Committee admitted at the start of the trial that the Navalny case was given priority because of his constant tormenting of the country's authorities.

- Navalny was accused of stealing in 2009 more timber than the company had the capacity to produce that year.

- Navalny's defense team was denied the right to call defense witnesses.

- Navalny's defense team was denied the right to cross-examine government witnesses.

- The government's star witness was a former company manager who had been fired for stealing and his sentence was suspended in exchange for his testimony.

- Navalny's co-defendant, Pyotr Ofitserov, turned down an offer of a suspended sentence if he would testify against Navalny.

- Defense lawyers for Navalny's co-defendant, who received a four year sentence on the same day as Navalny was sentenced, offered banking records and other proofs that the man lived a simple life in an older Moscow suburban apartment with no irregular bank transactions but the court ruled that such evidence was not a factor in the case.

Mendy, aside from those things was the trial fair? 

[mendeleyev]

Mendy, aside from those things was the trial fair? 

 

At times the trial wasn't even a trial. For several weeks the only proceeding was the judge reading aloud page after page of the prosecution's essays on this and supposedly related cases. It really was a stalling tactic to give the outside world the appearance of a lengthy and thoughtful trial.

At one point Navalny asked the judge if they were in a courtroom or a library. That didn't earn him any brownie points.

[mendeleyev]

Meanwhile the population mumbles.

Yep, sadly.

Just released polls show that the continued arrests of opposition rally leaders is having a chilling effect on the Russian public. In a Levada Centre poll released yesterday just 11 percent of those questioned said they would take part in future political rallies.

[OlgaH]

Protests against the verdict

[mendeleyev]

Breaking news: although at first detained immediately after the trial, Alexei Navalny has been released on his own recognizance (he cannot travel outside Russia) pending appeals. The government won't admit it, but likely the outpouring of citizens into the streets, over 7,000 in a spontaneous Moscow rally for example, may have been a factor in the decision. World opinion coming into the Kremlin hasn't been complimentary either.



Alexei Navalny (C), his wife Yulia (L) and co-defendant Pyotr Ofitserov (R).

Co-defendant Pyotr Ofitserov was also released pending appeals and in even more surprising news, Moscow's Rain TV is reporting that the judge has ruled that Navalny can stand for election in Moscow's mayoral race during the appeals process.

A current poll of Rain TV viewers shows that almost 40% of those surveyed so far believe that the decision to allow Navalny to participate in the mayoral election stems from a desire to make the re-election of Sergei Sobyanin appear legitimate. (This poll is still running and results could change.)

[Hammer2722]

Breaking news: although at first detained immediately after the trial, Alexei Navalny has been released on his own recognizance (he cannot travel outside Russia) pending appeals. The government won't admit it, but likely the outpouring of citizens into the streets, over 7,000 in a spontaneous Moscow rally for example, may have been a factor in the decision. World opinion coming into the Kremlin hasn't been complimentary either.



Alexei Navalny (C), his wife Yulia (L) and co-defendant Pyotr Ofitserov (R).

Co-defendant Pyotr Ofitserov was also released pending appeals and in even more surprising news, Moscow's Rain TV is reporting that the judge has ruled that Navalny can stand for election in Moscow's mayoral race during the appeals process.

A current poll of Rain TV viewers shows that almost 40% of those surveyed so far believe that the decision to allow Navalny to participate in the mayoral election stems from a desire to make the re-election of Sergei Sobyanin appear legitimate. (This poll is still running and results could change.)

Only in the FSU do events like this happen. Priceless.....

[CanadaMan]

So Navalnyi will never become a Russian President now.

Not so fast! 

[mendeleyev]

(www.mendeleyevjournal.com)

Is Alexei Navalny the next "Nelson Mandela?"

That was the question posed today by the BBC with Moscow correspondent Daniel Sandford saying that, "The decision to free Alexei Navalny after just one night in prison is - on the face of it - baffling. If this was a political prosecution to remove an opponent from the field of play, then why free him straight afterwards?"

"The answer plumbs the depths of speculation and old-fashioned Kremlinology. Perhaps the most convincing explanation is that Russia's men of power want to do three things - discredit Alexei Navalny, show his lack of support, and then get him out of the way."

"This they would achieve by first convicting him of a corruption offence, second, freeing him to fight an election and lose, and third, jailing him again. But this remains speculation."

Meanwhile we'll bring you photo journal coverage of yesterday's Moscow protests by photo journalists Dmitry Cheremisov and Maria Perfilnova.

First, from Dmitry Cheremisov:















Next, from Maria Perfileva:



























Next we'll look at the reaction from the Russian press to the Navalny sentence and the Kremlin response to citizen protests.

[mendeleyev]

(Commentary and analysis from BBC Monitoring)

Newspapers in Russia have been sympathetic towards Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny following his sentencing on embezzlement charges on Thursday.

Mr Navalny's unexpected release on bail came too late to be reflected in Friday's newspapers, which focus on his role and the impact of his possible absence from the political arena.

Commentators are impressed with Navalny's determination and charisma, with one newspaper describing him as a beacon of freedom in Russia.

Another article, however, argues that Navalny comes from "a murky environment" and may indeed have something to answer for.

The Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily argues that as far as charismatic politicians go, the Russian opposition has no alternative to Alexei Navalny.
In an editorial, it says the Kremlin's opponents resemble "a religious group awaiting an imminent apocalypse", rather than a coherent political force which can overcome its divisions and formulate a rational and comprehensible policy.

"Navalny simply plugged those gaps, becoming an idea, a slogan or a programme himself," argues Nezavisimaya Gazeta.

Vedomosti, a business daily, praises Navalny's determination and the fact he chose to go to jail rather than strike a deal with the system.
"That's real freedom," the article says, adding: "Watch and learn: this is a real school of leadership." The Russian government's response, according to the paper, has been "hysterical" and "chaotic".

Moskovsky Komsomolets, a popular tabloid, senses foul play in Navalny's prosecution, saying it aims to serve as a lesson to "those who are free". The daily says the Kremlin is worried Russians are losing their fear of their government. "Fear has weakened. It needs to be restored," it imagines the leadership thinking.

The message for Russians is, according to the paper: "Keep your mouth shut, and then it won't matter who you are: a drug addict, a paedophile, a homosexual, a thief or a racketeer. What's important is that you're not an enemy."

An article in the Komsomolskaya Pravda tabloid argues that sending Mr Navalnyy to jail may actually be counterproductive for the Kremlin, pointing out that history is replete with examples of rulers' opponents becoming "stronger and more dangerous while in jail".
In remarks made in the same paper, journalist Yulia Latynina agrees, saying Mr Navalny's sentencing confirmed his status as leader of the opposition.

"In order to become a prophet, you have to hang on a cross for a while," she tells Komsomolskaya Pravda. "In order to be a real opposition politician in an authoritarian state, you have to go through jail."

Eduard Limonov, a neo-Bolshevik opposition figure, is critical of Mr Navalny, however. Writing in the pro-government daily Izvestiya, he says that the opposition leader comes from "a pretty murky environment where people happily forgot about the line between legal and illegal".
He is also suspicious that Navalny is engaged in a double game and may in fact be backed by the Kremlin. "This whole Navalny saga is beginning to stink more and more," writes Mr Limonov. Still, he offers his "commiserations and sympathy" to Navalny.

In the top story on the website of the Russian government's Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper, Anatoly Kucherena, a pro-Kremlin lawyer who recently helped fugitive US whistle-blower Edward Snowden apply for asylum in Russia, voices satisfaction with Navalny's release on Friday.
"The Kirov region court was absolutely right" to release Mr Navalny on bail, especially because he is running as a candidate for the Moscow mayoral office, Mr Kucherena tells the paper.

BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world.

...and more from the Mendeleyev Journal:


(Photo: Marina Perfileva)

Russian media has covered this event and with good reason as the case and fate of Alexei Navalny is finally beginning to peak the interest of Russians all over the country and not just confined to the Moscow region.


(Photo: Marina Perfileva)

Police however continue to arrest press members and especially photo journalists, thus leading to a new breed of citizen journalist with wide availability of digital media today. The police simply cannot arrest everyone with a camera so often they target certain journalists or press members from media outlets thought to be friendly with the opposition. 

The press member above is officially credentialed as shown by his blue badge.

[mendeleyev]

Yesterday the staff of the Alexei Navalny for Mayor campaign were closing up shop due to the conviction and sentencing of Navalny on what most rational people suspect were bogus charges.


After the judge ruled that Navalny can remain free on bail pending his appeals, the kiosk are reappearing and the Navalny campaign is back in business.

[mendeleyev]

Thousands of protesters gathered for a second day in the centre of Moscow, prompting freed political prisoner Alexei Navalny to call on his supporters to go home and wait for permits to be filed for legal election rallies.

Arrest total from Thursday: 200 persons, according to RIA Russian news agency.

[lordtiberius]

Is this man the next Julia Timashenko?

Does the Russian police and military have an appetite for this stuff?

How much does Navalny's release have to do with Snowden?

Great reporting Mendy

[mendeleyev]

Is this man the next Julia Timashenko?

LT, it certainly has the earmarks of being another Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

Does the Russian police and military have an appetite for this stuff?

Certainly to a point. The police are a nationwide unit, not divided by jurisdiction in the same way as in the States. Therefore they function somewhat like a military unit with their own union and even their own hospitals.

The elite OMOH, Russians often call them the "goons" or "animals" are related but a separate force. Also answering to the Interior Ministry the mission of the OMOH (riot troops) is to protect the government from the people, very different from Western thinking. In a typical riot scenario the police recruits man the first lines of defense, the police hold the second line and the OMOH the final line.

That being said, there have been instances when the troop refused to fire on citizens--the attempted Gorbachev coup and the Yeltsin White House Constitutional crisis being prime examples. That by the way is why the Soviets often used ethnic troops against different ethnic groups. It was wiser to their thinking in certain situations to have Russians policing Kazakhs and Uzbeks policing Georgians, etc.

How much does Navalny's release have to do with Snowden?

Another good question. They're likely related much like your little sister asks for a dollar and you fork over a dime but charge interest in dollars.

For starters, releasing Navalny for the mayoral election allows current United Russia mayor Sergei Sobyanin to win (it has already been decided) and then to use Navalny's candidacy to show the West than even convicted opposition criminals can run for office in democratic Russia.

There are fewer things that give Vladimir Putin more joy in life than bending Barrack Obama over a table and shoving it up his backside. Putin despises Obama to a point rarely seen. So after Mr. Obama's call last Thursday afternoon, I'm sure that of all the demands/requests included in that phone call, Mr. Putin looked over the list and chuckled to himself while making the decision that Obama would lose on Syria (and thank God for that-Putin is right on Syria), Obama would lose on Snowden, well at least until Russia is finished with Snowden, and he'll throw Obama a bone--sort of. He'll allow Navalny to stay out on bail until the mayoral election is finished. Mr. Putin will grant Obama just enough time to gnaw and slobber happily on that bone until the timing is right to jerk it back again.

To badly paraphrase Churchill: at some point Navalny will be like a yo-yo, wrapped inside a roller coaster, spinning inside a merry go round unless the Russian people consistently pour out into the streets like they've done Thursday and Friday. My guess is that this is still something new to the Russian psyche and they'll fizzle before long.

[lordtiberius]

More people worship the rising than the setting sun
- Pompey

[lordtiberius]

Sir, what do we really know about Navalny?  This guy could be the next President of Russia how do we know this guy isn't a Morsi when Mubarak was not that bad.  I don't want to sound like a pro-Putin guy (though I like it when Putin slaps Obama and Yanokuvych around).  It is my understanding that the protests against Putin following his re-election were sponsored by the Communists and that they are the only viable opposition party in Russia.

I read Navalny's wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexei_Navalny  And I read about Medvedev's snarky tweets.  Do many Russians and observers agree with me that Medvedev is a weak man - a placeholder who enjoys no popular support aside from Putin's confirmed belief that Medvedev is no threat.  I am told that he is a weak man and that he gets along good with Barack.  Wonder why?  I am sorry I have no respect for a man over 25 who uses the internet to say things he has not the courage to do things to one's face.

Re: Timashenko, I know that Julia Timashenko has her critics (especially on this forum) and unlike Navalny has dirty hands.  But I think that woman will be the President of Ukraine someday and if Navalny is Putin's greatest enemy killing him unlike killing Colossio would implicate him personally.  Maybe he could live with the Ivan the Terrible moniker for the rest of his life.  But if he killed Navalny wouldn't he be a prisoner in his own country where he could be arrested anywhere like the International Community arrested Pinochet?

I read your mention of Mikhail Khodorkovsky - but what makes Mikhail Khodorkovsky different from the oligarchs like Pinchuk and the 12 dwarves in Ukraine or in our country.  Reading Mikhail Khodorkovsky's wiki reminds me of a quote from Kevin Spacey's House of Cards assessment of Mahershalalhashbaz Ali's character Remy Danton who mistakes money as more important than power.  Is there something about Khodorkovsky that is laudable other than his political imprisonment?