[LAAMN] DN Interview: Russia's Putin Faces Unprecedented Challenge as Tens of Thousands Protest Electoral Fraud

[Ed Pearl]

http://www.democracynow.org/es

Russia's Putin Faces Unprecedented Challenge as Tens of Thousands Protest
Electoral Fraud

Democracy Now: December 14, 2011
Luke   Harding, an
award-winning foreign correspondent with The Guardian of London. He was
expelled from Moscow earlier this year after he used classified diplomatic
cables published by WikiLeaks to report on allegations that Russia, under
the rule of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, had become a "virtual mafia
state." His new book is called Mafia State: How One Reporter Became an Enemy
of the Brutal New Russia.
AMY GOODMAN: In Russia, a high-ranking editor and executive at one of the
country's most respected news magazines were dismissed Tuesday after their
latest issue alleged electoral fraud and included a photograph of a ballot
scrawled with obscene words aimed at Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The
dismissals come just after tens of thousands of Russians protested in Moscow
and other cities across the country over the weekend in the largest
demonstrations Russia has seen in over a decade. Protesters have expressed
outrage at the large-scale electoral fraud they said took place during
recent parliamentary elections. They're demanding the ouster of Putin and
his ruling United Russia party. Political analyst Konstantin von Eggert said
the protests mark a turning point in Russian politics.

KONSTANTIN VON EGGERT: [translated] The meeting in Bolotnaya Square in
Moscow is a historic event because it's pretty much changing the political
paradigm for the last 10 years in Russia and raises the question of the
necessity of adapting to a new environment, to these new expectations for
the opposition and the power.

AMY GOODMAN: In response to the protests, the Russian government has vowed
to investigate the fraud allegations. This is Russian President Dmitry
Medvedev.

PRESIDENT DMITRY MEDVEDEV: [translated] Where there are real violations,
they will be resolved fairly. Actually, these official complaints on
election day total 118 cases.

AMY GOODMAN: Russian Prime Minister Putin earlier blamed the U.S. for
instigating the protests. He said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a
statement saying the ballot was rigged even before she had received reports
from election monitors.

PRIME MINISTER VLADIMIR PUTIN: [translated] Straight away, the Secretary of
State assessed the elections as dishonest and unfair, even though she hadn't
even received the observers' material. She set the tone for some of our
personalities inside the country and gave them a signal. And they heard this
signal and, with the support from the State Department, started active work.

AMY GOODMAN: Meanwhile, Alexei Navalny, a blogger best known for describing
Putin's ruling party as "the party of crooks and thieves," is serving 15
days in jail for his part in calling for protests. He says he wants to be
president, and Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov announced earlier this
week he will run for president against Putin in the March presidential
elections. Prokhorov owns the New Jersey Nets.

To talk more about events in Russia, we go to London to Luke Harding, the
award-winning foreign correspondent with The Guardian. He's their former
Moscow correspondent. He was expelled from Moscow earlier this year after he
used WikiLeaks cables to report on allegations that Russia, under the rule
of Vladimir Putin, had become a "virtual mafia state." His new book is
called Mafia State: How One Reporter Became an Enemy of the Brutal New
Russia. He's joining us from the _Guardian_'s newsroom via Democracy Now!
video stream.

Luke, welcome to Democracy Now! Tell us what's happening in Russia.

LUKE HARDING: Well, I think it's a fascinating moment, Amy. As you say, it's
the biggest protest we've had in Russia since 1993, as many as 50,000 people
taking to the streets, demonstrating. When I was a correspondent in Moscow,
I covered these protests. And very often you'd see a couple of hundred
people there, a few old ladies, a few students, and that was it. And
clearly, something's happening. I think the public is just outraged by
what's happened. They've seen videos on YouTube. They've experienced it
themselves, and they've been surveyed. I mean, there was fraud on a massive
scale-not 118 violations as Dmitry Medvedev said in your clip, but many,
many thousands. And they're just kind of fed up, really, I think, of being
treated like idiots, because if you watch Russian state television, it
doesn't really reflect everyday reality in Russia, and it just has one hero,
that hero of course being Vladimir Putin, who, as we know, is basically
going to be returning to the Kremlin. He's still certain, I think, to win
presidential elections in March. And he's going to be back in power and on
the international stage for another six years, and potentially another 12
years.

AMY GOODMAN: Luke, what exactly are the people in the streets demanding? And
how do these protes

[LAAMN] DN Interview: Russia's Putin Faces Unprecedented Challenge as Tens of Thousands Protest Electoral Fraud

[Ed Pearl]

http://www.democracynow.org/es

Russia's Putin Faces Unprecedented Challenge as Tens of Thousands Protest
Electoral Fraud

Democracy Now: December 14, 2011
 
Luke   Harding, an
award-winning foreign correspondent with The Guardian of London. He was
expelled from Moscow earlier this year after he used classified diplomatic
cables published by WikiLeaks to report on allegations that Russia, under
the rule of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, had become a "virtual mafia
state." His new book is called Mafia State: How One Reporter Became an Enemy
of the Brutal New Russia.
AMY GOODMAN: In Russia, a high-ranking editor and executive at one of the
country's most respected news magazines were dismissed Tuesday after their
latest issue alleged electoral fraud and included a photograph of a ballot
scrawled with obscene words aimed at Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The
dismissals come just after tens of thousands of Russians protested in Moscow
and other cities across the country over the weekend in the largest
demonstrations Russia has seen in over a decade. Protesters have expressed
outrage at the large-scale electoral fraud they said took place during
recent parliamentary elections. They're demanding the ouster of Putin and
his ruling United Russia party. Political analyst Konstantin von Eggert said
the protests mark a turning point in Russian politics.

KONSTANTIN VON EGGERT: [translated] The meeting in Bolotnaya Square in
Moscow is a historic event because it's pretty much changing the political
paradigm for the last 10 years in Russia and raises the question of the
necessity of adapting to a new environment, to these new expectations for
the opposition and the power.

AMY GOODMAN: In response to the protests, the Russian government has vowed
to investigate the fraud allegations. This is Russian President Dmitry
Medvedev.

PRESIDENT DMITRY MEDVEDEV: [translated] Where there are real violations,
they will be resolved fairly. Actually, these official complaints on
election day total 118 cases.

AMY GOODMAN: Russian Prime Minister Putin earlier blamed the U.S. for
instigating the protests. He said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a
statement saying the ballot was rigged even before she had received reports
from election monitors.

PRIME MINISTER VLADIMIR PUTIN: [translated] Straight away, the Secretary of
State assessed the elections as dishonest and unfair, even though she hadn't
even received the observers' material. She set the tone for some of our
personalities inside the country and gave them a signal. And they heard this
signal and, with the support from the State Department, started active work.

AMY GOODMAN: Meanwhile, Alexei Navalny, a blogger best known for describing
Putin's ruling party as "the party of crooks and thieves," is serving 15
days in jail for his part in calling for protests. He says he wants to be
president, and Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov announced earlier this
week he will run for president against Putin in the March presidential
elections. Prokhorov owns the New Jersey Nets.

To talk more about events in Russia, we go to London to Luke Harding, the
award-winning foreign correspondent with The Guardian. He's their former
Moscow correspondent. He was expelled from Moscow earlier this year after he
used WikiLeaks cables to report on allegations that Russia, under the rule
of Vladimir Putin, had become a "virtual mafia state." His new book is
called Mafia State: How One Reporter Became an Enemy of the Brutal New
Russia. He's joining us from the _Guardian_'s newsroom via Democracy Now!
video stream.

Luke, welcome to Democracy Now! Tell us what's happening in Russia.

LUKE HARDING: Well, I think it's a fascinating moment, Amy. As you say, it's
the biggest protest we've had in Russia since 1993, as many as 50,000 people
taking to the streets, demonstrating. When I was a correspondent in Moscow,
I covered these protests. And very often you'd see a couple of hundred
people there, a few old ladies, a few students, and that was it. And
clearly, something's happening. I think the public is just outraged by
what's happened. They've seen videos on YouTube. They've experienced it
themselves, and they've been surveyed. I mean, there was fraud on a massive
scale-not 118 violations as Dmitry Medvedev said in your clip, but many,
many thousands. And they're just kind of fed up, really, I think, of being
treated like idiots, because if you watch Russian state television, it
doesn't really reflect everyday reality in Russia, and it just has one hero,
that hero of course being Vladimir Putin, who, as we know, is basically
going to be returning to the Kremlin. He's still certain, I think, to win
presidential elections in March. And he's going to be back in power and on
the international stage for another six years, and potentially another 12
years.

AMY GOODMAN: Luke, what exactly are the people in the streets demanding? And
how do these prot