Ex-Cop Convicted of Fraud

Former police special investigator Lieutenant Colonel Sergey Chernenko was sentenced in Moscow City Court to 6 years of imprisonment after being convicted by a jury for a 200 mln rouble ($7 mln) fraud. In 2005 Chernenko seized a shipment of mobile phones as evidence in a smuggling case, then sold the phones and kept the money together with unidentified accomplices. Chernenko insisted he only seized the phones and was not aware of their sale.


http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=1400353&NodesID=6

Anti-Mayor Demonstration Dispersed

The Moscow police dispersed an opposition demonstration in front of the Mayor’s Office calling for the resignation of Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov. About 35 demonstrators were detained.

http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=1400260&NodesID=7 (photo, video)
http://www.echo.msk.ru/blog/varlamov_i/691377-echo/ (photo)

Referendum on Kyrgyzstan Constitution

According to preliminary results, about 90% of voters in a referendum on the new Kyrgyzstan Constitution approved it. Under the new Constitution Kyrgystan is to be transformed from a presidential to parliamentary republic. Interim President Roza Otunbayeva is to hold office through 31 December 2011. Meanwhile, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev stated he is skeptical about the workability of the parliamentary republic model for Kyrgyzstan.

http://lenta.ru/news/2010/06/28/doubt/

Moldova Introduces Soviet Occupation Day

Acting Moldovan President Mihai Ghimpu issued a decree establishing Soviet Occupation Day, commemorated on June 28. On that day in 1940 the USSR annexed Bessarabia, formerly part of Romania, to establish the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic within the USSR. Moldovan Communists believe the presidential decree has been issued ultra vires. The Russian Foreign Ministry called the decree “sacrilege.” The Moldovan ruling parliamentary coalition requested that Ghimpu annul his decree, but he refused. The issue may be considered by the Moldovan Constitutuional Court.

http://lenta.ru/news/2010/06/28/deny/
http://www.mid.ru/brp_4.nsf/0/EA8E1A5877F17F39C325774D003284EA
http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=1394516

Strasbourg Court Stops Russian Extradition of Kazakhstan Banker

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered Russia to stay the extradition to Kazakhstan of former Kazakh BTA Bank manager Veronika Efimova to face large-scale fraud charges with other managers of the bank. Efimova and the other defendants maintain that the charges are baseless and are intended to enable the government to take over the bank. The stay will remain in effect pending ECHR’s ruling on Efimova's petition on the merits. Unlike Russia, Kazakhstan is not a signatory of the European Convention for Human Rights.

http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=1394356&NodesID=6

Bribetaker Scatters 10 Mln

An official of Russia's State Fisheries Committee was detained after allegedly receiving a 10 mln rouble ($300,000) bribe for granting rental rights to fish ponds. While being chased by police, the official threw bundles of cash from his car window, had a traffic accident, and was captured. The police blocked Varshavskoe Highway for several hours to gather the money.

http://gazeta.ru/social/2010/06/25/3390519.shtml
http://kp.ru/daily/24512.4/662868/ (photo, video)

Alexanyan Case Closed

A Moscow court granted a defense petition and dropped the criminal prosecution of Vasily Alexanyan, former Vice-President of defunct oil giant YUKOS, because the statute of limitation on his charges has expired. Alexanyan, who is gravely ill, came to court in order to confirm his agreement to end the trial with no judgment on the merits. Alexanyan was accused of corporate theft, money laundering, and tax evasion. Meanwhile, a trial on similar charges against other YUKOS managers, Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev, continues in another court.

http://lenta.ru/news/2010/06/24/alexfinish/
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/charges-dropped-against-yukos-aleksanyan/409058.html

Former Ukrainian Customs Head Arrested

A court in Kyiv ordered to arrest former State Customs Service head Anatoii Makarenko on “criminal negligence” charges. Makarenko is accused of illegal customs-clearance of 11 bln cubic meters of natural gas that was seized from Swiss trader RosUkrEnergo and passed to Ukrainian state-run Naftagas; as a result, a Stockholm arbitration tribunal gave RosUkrEnergo a damages award against Naftagas for that amount of gas. Investigators believe Makarenko acted upon a governmental order. Then-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko denies any wrongdoing and says the criminal prosecution is “political repression” initiated by now-President Viktor Yanukovich, who is allegedly associated with RosUkrEnergo owners.

http://lenta.ru/news/2010/06/25/first/

Writer Loses Suit to Animation Studio

Eduard Uspensky, a well-known author of children’s books, lost a copyright infringement suit to animation studio Soyuzmultfilm. The studio sold, without Uspensky’s authorization, licenses to manufacture toys featuring the characters of animated movies based on Uspensky’s books and scripts, such as Cheburashka. Uspensky sued the studio, but the court found that the studio, not the writer, owns the exclusive rights to the use of the characters.

http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=1390368