Anti-Putin Books Seized in Russia
Posted:
06/17/10
One hundred thousand copies of the book, "Putin. The Results. 10 Years On," written by opposition leaders, were seized by Russian police this week ahead of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, where they were to be distributed. Vladimir Putin, now prime minister after two terms as president, remains Russia's most powerful political figure and consistently has pushed for greater control over media in the country. (He's expected to run again for president in 2012 and win.)
In the 10 years since Putin seized control of the country, Russia's progress has been marked by corruption, cronyism and a steady movement away from democritization. The New York Review of Books' Christian Caryl fills in the details:
In the 10 years since Putin seized control of the country, Russia's progress has been marked by corruption, cronyism and a steady movement away from democritization. The New York Review of Books' Christian Caryl fills in the details:
Prominent critics of the regime -- such as the journalist Anna Politkovskaya and the ex–secret policeman turned dissident Alexander Litvinenko -- have been murdered under mysterious circumstances. Those who have tried to pose serious challenges to Putin's hold on power -- such as the former chess champion and presidential candidate Garry Kasparov and the ex-prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov -- have faced official harassment. Freedom of the press, one of the few undeniably positive achievements of the Yeltsin years, has been sharply curtailed. Business interests with close ties to the state bully domestic or foreign investors out of their assets with impunity; indeed, tycoons who have defied the regime now find themselves in exile (Boris Berezovsky) or prison (Mikhail Khodorkovsky).