Court Orders Vote Recount

A Moscow court ordered a vote recount in a Moscow election district in recent regional elections. The tally in that district shows no votes for liberal opposition party Yabloko, although Yabloko leader Sergey Mitrokhin and his family voted there. Opposition parties claim unprecedented vote-rigging, and on October 14 all State Duma deputies that do not belong to the ruling United Russia party left the assembly in protest.

(Update, October 23: The recount in Mitrokhin's district yielded 16 votes for Yabloko.)

http://lenta.ru/news/2009/10/22/mitrohin/
http://lenta.ru/news/2009/10/23/apple/

Artist Sues TV Channel for Using Olympic Mascot

Viktor Chizhikov sued TV company NTV for using in its documentary series the image of Misha the Bear, the 1980 Moscow Olympics mascot that Chizhikov authored. Misha became a symbol of the TV program, although it is unrelated to sports. Chizhikov claims 20 million rubles (about $700,000) for copyright infringement and moral harm. NTV argues that its Misha was not authored by Chizhikov.

http://russian-law.livejournal.com/51039.html

Kyrgyzstan Reorganizes Government

President Kurmanbek Bakiyev initiated a large-scale reform of Kyrgyzstan's state governance system. The government resigned. The presidential administration and the security council will be abolished, and most of their authorities will pass to the president.

http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=1259523

Deputy Minister Accuses Investigators of Torture

The Interior Minister of the Russian region Buriatia and his deputy were arrested on large-scale smuggling charges. The deputy minister has asserted that when he was arrested, the FSB (State Security Service) tortured him, applying methods of drowning, electric shock, and freezing.

http://lenta.ru/news/2009/10/20/tortue/

Editorial Defends Juries

An editorial in the news daily Vedomosti criticized statements by Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee of the General Prosecutor’s Office, that juries acquit too often and that the jury system should be changed to include more than one judge to preside with 12 jurors. The editorial asserts that less than one percent of Russian criminal cases are tried to juries, and that jury acquittal rates of around 20% in Russia are normal by European standards.
www.vedomosti.ru/newspaper/article/2009/10/19/216649

WTO Customs Union Application to Come Later

Reversing a June 2009 decision to apply for membership in the World Trade Organization as a customs union, representatives of Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus met in Geneva and announced that the three countries will apply as separate states, but will coordinate their applications and after joining will seek membership of the customs union. (See 10/3/09 post for recent background.)
http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?docsID=1256553

Warning Against Election Protests

The head of Russia's Central Elections Commission warned members of the Duma (lower parliamentary chamber) who are alleging vote-rigging in recent regional elections that their complaints may violate a criminal prohibition against interfering with elections.
http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?docsID=1256231

Putin Criticizes Corruption

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made a last-minute addition to the agenda of an October 15 meeting of top government officials: a report by General Prosecutor Yuri Chaika about corruption in regulatory bodies in key economic sectors. Based on Chaika’s report, Putin asserted that governmental supervision has become a “profitable business” in which governmental functions are delegated to private companies affiliated with officials in the relevant agencies. One attendee predicted personnel changes and reorganization of ministries by the end of the year as a result of the report.
http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?docsID=1256441

Supreme Arbitrazh Court Publishes Future Judgment

Russia’s Supreme Arbitrazh (Economic) Court mistakenly published on its web site a judgment in advance of the hearing in the case, which is scheduled for next week. The case is a tax dispute in which the court, according to the published text, will hold for the tax authorities. Observers disagreed as to whether preparation of the document before the hearing indicates that the Court has reached a final decision on the result of the case, or the document is merely a draft prepared by a court employee and is subject to revision based on the Court's deliberations after the hearing.

http://kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=1256533