CAPTAIN NIKITIN ACQUITTED
Izvestia, September 14, 2000, p. 2
On September 13, the presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation finally closed the case of Captain 1st Class (retired) Alexander Nikitin.
The presidium supported Nikitin’s lawyer Yuri Schmidt, who declared that “there is no chance that Nikitin’s case will end in conviction.”
This decision is final.
PEOPLE’S DEPUTY GROUP ADVOCATES CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
Izvestia, September 14, 2000, p. 3
The People’s Deputy group is pushing to lift the moratorium on capital punishment imposed on Boris Yeltsin’s decree in 1996, when Russia was admitted into the Council of Europe.
TROSHEV VISITS GEORGIA
Izvestia, September 14, 2000, p. 3
Colonel General Gennadi Troshev, Caucasus Military District Troops Commander, is on a planned visit to Georgia. Officially, he is supposed to check how surplus military hardware is being withdrawn from Georgia.
Yesterday, Troshev met with Georgian Defense Minister Lieutenant General David Tevzadze and Chief of General Staff Lieutenant General Joni Pirtskhalaishvili. Georgian-Russian military cooperation was discussed. After the meeting, Troshev said that Russia is prepared to render military assistance to Georgia whenever necessary.
Troshev also intends to visit Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. On September 20, South Ossetia will celebrate the tenth anniversary of its Declaration of Sovereignty. On September 12, South Ossetian diplomats sent a memorandum to the Russian Foreign Ministry, advocating the establishment of a Russian Consulate in South Ossetia. Needless to say, Tbilisi is not happy with the idea.
Official sources attribute Troshev’s visit to Georgia primarily to the recent decision to close Russian military bases in that country. Withdrawal of Russian troops and hardware from Georgia began over a month ago.
CHECHEN TERRORISTS DECLARE OPEN SEASON ON PROMINENT RUSSIANS
Moskovsky Komsomolets, September 14, 2000, p. 1
The Shar’iah Court in Chechnya has sentenced senior Russian military and political leaders to death, in absentia, and put prices on the heads.
The list and prices can be found at the Kavkaz-Tsentr website.
Yeltsin (ex-president)$1 million
Putin (president)$2 million
Sergeev (defense minister)$500,000
Kvashnin (chief of the General Staff)$500,000
Rushailo (interior minister)$300,000
Troshev (general)$200,000
Shamanov (general)$200,000
Kazantsev (general)$200,000
Manilov (general)$150,000
Kornukov (Air Force commander)$300,000
Kuroyedov (Navy commander)$300,000
Ivanov (foreign minister)$300,000
Lukin (Duma deputy)$50,000
Aslakhanov (Duma deputy)$25,000
Kulikov (ex-interior minister)$200,000
Grachev (ex-defense minister)$200,000
Evidence (video or photo materials) is needed as proof of death. The reward is promised to be paid in Chechnya or in any other country…
WILL BODIES BE RAISED FROM THE KURSK?
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, September 14, 2000, p. 1
Nuclear Energy Minister Yevgeny Adamov said Tuesday that the Kursk should best be left on the seabed. Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov yesterday made a stunning statement. According to him, it is unlikely that all the bodies without exception will be retrieved from the Kursk.
Klebanov says that the first two sections sustained such damage that the bodies of about 70 sailors, who were in these sections at the moment of the disaster, are unlikely to be found at all. Klebanov intends to meet with the crew’s families and discuss the expediency of the attempt to retrieve the bodies.
Klebanov says that the submarine itself will be raised from the seabed, regardless of what Adamov might be saying on the subject. Klebanov claims that the governmental commission is sure there is no danger of radiation leaks.
NOVOSIBIRSK PENAL COLONY LEFT WITHOUT POWER
Tribuna, September 14, 2000, p. 1
A hard-labor penal colony near Novosibirsk was left without power on Tuesday.
There are about 1,500 inmates in the prison camp. Alarm systems were left without power for over an hour.
The prison camp owes over 1.5 million rubles to the local electrical utility. Altogether, penal colonies in the region owe almost 23 million rubles for electricity.
THE THIRD WAVE OF PRIVATIZATION IS COMING
Parlamentskaya Gazeta, September 14, 2000, p. 1
There have been two waves of privatization so far, neither of them exactly a success. The third is unlikely to be a success either. The most profitable enterprises have been sold already.
The State Property Ministry intends to sell about 30,000 enterprises this time. According to Minister Farit Gazizullin, his ministry cannot manage all of them effectively. It can supervise only 1,500 strategic enterprises. The rest should be sold at the rate of 7,000 to 8,000 a year, he says.
