Skolkovo Boss Denies Financing Opposition

The president of Russia's Skolkovo Foundation, billionaire businessman Viktor Vekselberg, denied on Wednesday earlier allegations that the foundation funded the political opposition. Russian investigators opened a criminal case last month against Alexei Beltyukov, the foundation’s vice president, over suspicions he illegally paid $750,000 to opposition lawmaker Ilya Ponomaryov, ostensibly for a series of lectures and research projects. “No, [Skolkovo] is in no way involved,” Vekselberg said at a news conference. Both Ponomaryov and Beltyukov have denied any wrongdoing. Beltyukov was suspended from his post earlier this month. The Skolkovo Foundation which manages the eponymous high-tech hub, is a pet project of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and was opened during his presidency in 2010.

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20130515/181163244/Russian-Tech-Hub-Boss-Denies-it-Financed-Opposition.html

CIA Agent Captured in Moscow

An alleged CIA agent has been briefly detained in Moscow for allegedly trying to recruit a Russian intelligence officer, Russian media report. The alleged agent was held overnight before being released to US officials, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said. He is said to have been working as a secretary at the US embassy in Moscow. The man was reportedly arrested with a large sum of money, technical devices and written instructions for the agent he had tried to recruit. He was named as Ryan Fogle, said to be a third secretary at the US embassy in Moscow.  "FSB counter-intelligence agents detained a CIA staff member who had been working under the cover of third political secretary of the US embassy in Moscow," the FSB said. "At the moment of detention, special technical equipment was discovered, written instructions for the Russian citizen being recruited, as well as a large sum of money and means for altering appearance." A letter found on the suspect (a photo was published by RT) promises an unnamed addressee $1 mln a year for "long-term cooperation" plus bonuses for valuable information.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22522494
http://lenta.ru/news/2013/05/14/instructions/
http://rt.com/news/fsb-detain-cia-agent-253/ (photo)
http://youtu.be/Je5cjpDwAbU (video)

Russian MP Condems Stalin Statue Sales in Duma

Russian lawmaker Sergei Mironov on Monday condemned the sales of busts of Soviet leader Josef Stalin, one of the 20th century's most brutal dictators, at a kiosk inside the State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament. Visitors to the State Duma can buy a small figurine of the former Soviet leader for 6,000 rubles ($194) or a bigger bust for 30,000 rubles ($967). A full-length statue of Stalin smoking his pipe is also for sale for an undisclosed sum. “I think such busts should not be sold inside the walls of the State Duma,” Mironov, the head of A Just Russia's parliamentary faction and former Federation Council chairman, told reporters on Monday. Critics have accused President Vladimir Putin of attempting to bolster Stalin’s reputation. Recently introduced state-approved school history books describe Stalin as an “effective manager,” and have significantly reduced the number of those estimated to have been killed by his regime.

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20130513/181118423/Russian-MP-Condems-Stalin-Statue-Sales-in-Duma.html

Navalny’s Party Denied Registration

A party linked to opposition figurehead Alexei Navalny is unlikely to be able to participate in this year’s regional elections after the Justice Ministry halted its consideration of the party’s bid for official registration, a party member said on Monday. The People’s Alliance party submitted registration documents in April, but was included on Monday on a list of seven parties whose applications had been frozen. “Freezing [the bid] is not a refusal, but the timing means we are 99 percent unlikely to be able to take part in the September 2013 elections,” tweeted one of the party’s leaders, Leonid Volkov. Navalny, an anti-corruption crusader who is currently facing jail time over fraud charges he says are politically motivated, is not a formal member of the People’s Alliance party, which is run by his supporters. Navalny has however publically backed the party and spoke at its founding congress in Moscow last year.

http://en.rian.ru/politics/20130506/180994834/Navalnys-Party-Hits-Hitch-in-Registration-Bid.html
http://rt.com/politics/blogger-suspended-registration-navalny-861/

Interpol Denies Russia's Request to Arrest Georgian Politician

A Georgian lawmaker sought by Russia over his suspected role in an alleged plot to topple President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday he would return to Georgia from Lithuania after Interpol withdrew his name from its wanted list. “I will return to my homeland on the earliest flight,” Givi Targamadze told Georgia’s Pirveli Radio. Russian investigators charged last year Targamadze and three Russian leftist activists with plotting to seize power in a number of Russian cities as part of a plan to overthrow Putin. One of the men charged, Konstantin Lebedev, a former member of a pro-Kremlin youth group, was sentenced to 2.5 years in jail last month after pleading guilty to the charges. His lawyer said he would also testify against Targamadze and his former fellow activists - Left Front leader Sergei Udaltsov and another member of the leftsit movement, Leonid Razvozzhayev. All three men deny the charges, which could see them jailed for up to ten years. Udaltsov says the charges are the Kremlin's revenge for his role in helping to lead mass anti-Putin protests in Moscow last year. Georgia's foreign minister, Maia Panjikidze, said Targamadze - an ally of President Mikheil Saakashvili and the former head of the Georgian parliament’s defense and security committee - was free to return home. Targamadze has been in Lithuania for the past few months. Lithuania refused to extradiate Targamadze in April. Interpol refused to issue a warrant on the grounds that his prosecution in Russia was politically motivated.

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20130508/181033174/Georgian-Putin-Plot-Lawmaker-to-Return-to-Tbilisi.html
http://lenta.ru/news/2013/05/13/politik/

Armenia to Pay Out €112,000 to Jehovah's Witnesses

The Armenian government allocated €112,000 to the Justice Ministry during its meeting on Wednesday to be paid out to Jehovah’s Witnesses in accordance with a judgment rendered by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in November 2012, according to an official statement. In 2004, the claimants were assigned service positions in such institutions as hospitals and nursing homes as an alternative to military service based on their religious views. The following year, they informed their institutions that they would no longer be willing to serve due to the fact that their alternative service positions were controlled by the military. Criminal proceedings were brought against the applicants based on the refusal to serve, and they were placed in detention. Based on these issues, they filed complaints with the ECHR, alleging violations of their rights under the European Convention of Human Rights (Convention). The ECHR held that with regards to most of the applicants, there had been violations of the right to liberty and security and the right to compensation for unlawful detention, in violation of Article 5 of the Convention. Accordingly, the Court held that each claimant whose rights were found to have been violated should receive €6,000 in non-pecuniary damages, and that the lot of them should be awarded €10,000 for costs and expenses.

http://www.rapsinews.com/judicial_information/20130508/267305169.html

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Resigns

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accepted the resignation of the Deputy Prime Minister Vladislav Surkov, the Kremlin’s press service announced Wednesday. Surkov voluntarily chose to leave, according to the statement. Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov told RIA Novosti that Surkov’s letter of resignation came on the heels of a meeting with the president about the implementation of ordinances. Peskov added that the president’s decision to accept the letter of resignation was connected with the implementation of presidential decrees and election promises. Surkov sits on the supervisory board of Russian high-tech innovation hub Skolkovo, which has found itself embroiled in a series of legal disputes in recent months. Surkov made headlines this week because of his statement on the funds misappropriation investigation which resulted in Alexei Beltyukov, Senior Vice President of the Skolkovo Foundation, being suspended from his post. Skolkovo, a pet project of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev opened during his presidency in 2010, has been popularly dubbed Russia’s Silicon Valley, and was intended to lead the country’s drive to diversify and modernize its economy and increase the output of high-tech products.

http://www.rapsinews.com/news/20130508/267304571.html

Kerry Meets with Russian NGOs as Crackdown Mounts

Leading Russian activists say U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has assured them that Washington is concerned about a crackdown on Russian nongovernmental organizations that have received U.S. funding. Human Rights Watch senior researcher Tania Lokshina, one of nine activists who met with Kerry on Wednesday, said he told them he had been up until 2:30 a.m. discussing the legal pressure on NGOs with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Russia is pushing to enforce a new law that requires all NGOs funded from abroad that engage in vaguely defined political activities to register as "foreign agents," a label with connotations of espionage. The law is part of a broad effort by President Vladimir Putin to stifle dissent. Prosecutors have raided hundreds of groups in recent months.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20130508/eu-russia-ngos/?utm_hp_ref=green&ir=green

Deputy PM Wrangles with Investigators over Skolkovo

Alexei Beltyukov, a senior vice president at the Skolkovo Foundation, has been suspended, and oppositionist State Duma Deputy Ilya Ponomaryov is being questioned, over a criminal probe into fraud at the innovation hub. The developments came amid a war of words that broke out over the investigation between Deputy Prime Minister Vladislav Surkov and Investigative Committee spokesperson General Vladimir Markin. During a speech before students in London, Surkov warned the Investigative Committee against haste judgments. “The energy with which the Investigative Committee is publishing its assumptions evokes the sense that a crime has been committed,” Surkov said. “But that’s just the energy of the Investigative Committee. Let them prove that these people are guilty of something; we have yet to see whether they prove it or not.” Markin responded with an article titled "When Looking From London, Don't Lay the Blame at Someone Else's Door," full of ironic and sharp barbs addressed to Surkov. "It is a trend now to be a political prisoner, it guarantees you the attention of the BBC and support from Amnesty International," Markin wrote. Calling Surkov one of the "curators of [Skolkovo's] especially effective managers" and his criticism "arias of a Moscow guest in London," Markin said that seeking such international support was the only reason why Surkov had expressed his dissatisfaction in London — "in front of the target audience." Opposition leader Alexei Navalny wrote on his blog that the expressions used in the article by Markin  were usually reserved for the committee's accusations against opposition activists. When asked about Markin's article by reporters on Tuesday, Surkov said he would not "comment on graphomania." However, an unnamed government source speaking to ITAR-TASS news agency expressed "surprise" as to the tone of Markin's article.  The source went on to add that, according to the information from the General Prosecutor's office, General Markin's higher education diploma was forged.

http://themoscownews.com/politics/20130507/191496363/Senior-exec-suspended-as-war-of-words-erupts-over-Skolkovo-.html
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/investigative-committee-surkov-trade-barbs-over-skolkovo/479710.html
http://www.echo.msk.ru/blog/echomsk/1068882-echo/
http://www.echo.msk.ru/blog/navalny/1068922-echo/
http://www.echo.msk.ru/blog/echomsk/1069776-echo/ (video)


UPDATE: Surkov resigns
http://www.echo.msk.ru/news/1069764-echo.html