Author Archives: Vadim Birstein
On March 28, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed two more laws restricting human rights. The first was the law banning “undesirable” foreign and international NGOs from creating legal entities in Russia and Russians from participating in them. The draft law was submitted to the State Duma (lower house of the Russian Parliament) by the government on October 10, 2016. The… Read More »
On March 9, 2017, Yury Dmitriev, head of the Karelian branch of the International Memorial Society, was additionally charged in the Petrozavodsk City Court (Karelia). As I’ve already written, previously he was charged with child pornography (Article 242.2 of the Russian Criminal Code). Now charges of dissolute acts against a minor (Article 135) and illegal possession of weapons (Article… Read More »
On February 16, 2017, while speaking at a NATO conference in Brussels, US Defense Secretary James Mattis accused Russia of violating international law, labeling its actions as “aggressive” and “destabilizing.” He also said there is “very little doubt” that Russia has interfered in a number of democratic elections. The same day far away from Brussels, in Baku, the… Read More »
Vladimir Medinsky Remains “Doctor of Sciences” The attempt of concerned Russian historians to deprive Russian Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky of his doctorate degree due to his doctoral thesis, which espouses the view “that historical events and figures should be assessed from the point of view of the national interests of Russia” have failed. On February 7, 2016, the… Read More »
On February 1, 2017, the International Memorial Society filed a lawsuit to the Simonovsky Regional court in Moscow against the REN TV (the Russian federal channel available also in the U.S.). The legal action was triggered by the REN’s report on the awards ceremony at the end of the 17th All-Russian Competition entitled “A Man in the History… Read More »
On February 2, 2016, the Team29, an informal association of lawyers and journalists based in Russia that supports the Raoul Wallenberg Research Initiative-RW70 and defended historian Boris Sokolov in the court, distributed its weekly newsletter. Here are main points, compiled by Katya Alalykina, and translated by Vadim Birstein: On February 1, 2017, a regular court session on the… Read More »
On January 18, 2017, the Presnensky Regional Court of Moscow released its decision regarding the case against the Russian historian Boris Sokolov and Moscow radio station Ekho Moskvy. The trial took place on November 9, December 7, and 23, 2016. The lawsuit was filed by Vera Serova, the granddaughter of the first KGB Chairman Ivan Serov, and Aleksandr… Read More »
U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, has introduced just released House Resolution 58 into the 115 Congress calling on Russia to open their archives to assist Wallenberg researchers to finally settle the question of Raoul Wallenberg’s fate. Ros-Lehtinen, together with Rep. Nina Lowey (D-NY) jointly released a press… Read More »