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The Guardian (and pretty much every other news outlet on the web) is reporting that Boris Nemtsov, former deputy Russian Prime Minister and critic of President Vladimir Putin has been killed in a drive-by shooting near the Kremlin, sustaining four gunshot wounds to the chest and dying at the scene. Nemtsov was due to lead a major opposition rally on Sunday. A spokesman for Putin has stated that the President will take personal control of the investigation into the killing, claiming it was "a pure provocation." A police spokesman has stated that a manhunt is under way.
Nemtsov was first deputy Prime Minister during Boris Yeltsin's presidency between March 1997 and April 1998. He wrote a number of reports linking Putin to corruption, spoke out against government inefficiency, criticized the Kremlin's policy towards Ukraine, and asserted that billions of dollars earmarked for spending on the Winter Olympics in his home town of Sochi had been embezzled. Several hours prior to his death, he promoted Sunday's opposition rally in Moscow on Ekho Moskvy radio. When he asked Alexei Venediktov, the editor-in-chief of the station, if he had any concerns regarding his appearance, Venediktov tweeted "It wasn’t me who needed to be scared."
While it's been a decade since a Russian opposition politician has been murdered in the capital, there has been no shortage of tactics used to suppress dissent against Putin's regime. Another organiser of the upcoming rally, Alexei Navalny, was jailed on 19 February for 15 days after handing out leaflets in public promoting the rally. Navalny was previously convicted of defrauding two firms of 30million roubles ($462k US) and given a suspended sentence in December, a move that critics say was an attempt to stifle political dissent.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by wantkitteh on Sunday March 01 2015, @08:14PM
The US way of handling people like this is based on plausible deniability and works in the US, but this is Moscow we're talking about where intimidation is the order of the day. Nemtsov ignored the warnings - the legal harassment of himself, his friends and colleagues - so now we're getting a masterclass in the Russian way of killing off dissenters:
1) President blatantly has the guy murdered in public
2) President handles the case personally
3) President covers his tracks and comes up with a scapegoat
Speaking of which, what are the odds the scapegoat will be another problematic dissenter?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Jeremiah Cornelius on Sunday March 01 2015, @11:27PM
1) President blatantly has the guy murdered in public? Evidence?
2) President handles the case personally? Evidence?
3) President covers his tracks and comes up with a scapegoat? Now you are clearly speculating.
You're betting on the pantomime horse...
(Score: 2) by wantkitteh on Monday March 02 2015, @01:28PM
Evidence - see steps 2 and 3. I can only assume you're being deliberately ignorant and naive for the sake of trying to be pointlessly argumentative, but when you have the power Putin has, you can make the evidence say whatever you want it to say. Do you honestly think anyone apart from the shooter and the driver (assuming it was a two man job) will ever see the real evidence?
(Score: 3, Touché) by Jeremiah Cornelius on Monday March 02 2015, @05:34PM
You have a position, not an argument.
You're betting on the pantomime horse...
(Score: 2) by wantkitteh on Tuesday March 03 2015, @04:14PM
Oddly enough, that's kinda the point I'm (belatedly - birthday party 2-day hangover) trying to make - Putin has got it all nicely sewn up so no-one will ever have anything more than *a position* against him, because look what happens to people who actually have an argument and evidence and a slight inkling of support. Hate the guy as much as you like, point out how far he has to fall for all you're worth, he's in the kind of position many other world leaders would be envious of. Why does ruler of Russia seem to be such a safe place to be a bastard from?