Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Russia

Russia's Prosecutor-General Defends Shake-Up

Yury Chaika during his confirmation last month (ITAR-TASS)

July 7 2006 -- Russian Prosecutor-General Yury Chaika said today that his decision to replace several deputies earlier this week should not be regarded as "a revolution," Interfax reported.

TEXT SIZE - +

July 07, 2006

Chaika added that it is natural for him to want to form his own team.

The former justice minister was named last month by President Vladimir Putin to replace Vladimir Ustinov.

On July 5, Chaika dismissed Chief Military Prosecutor Aleksandr Savenkov, First Deputy Prosecutor-General Yury Biryukov, and deputy prosecutor-generals Vladimir Kolesnikov, Nikolai Shepel, Anatoly Bondar, and Valentin Simuchenkov, according to Interfax on July 5 and "The Moscow Times" on July 6.

The Federation Council endorsed those dismissals today.

On July 5, Chaika also submitted to the Federation Council his proposed nominations to the vacant positions: Deputy Prosecutor-General Sergei Fridinsky as chief military prosecutor, Aleksandr Buksman as first deputy prosecutor-general, and Ivan Sydoryuk, Krasnoyarsk Krai Prosecutor Viktor Grin, Viktor Gulyagin, and Buryatia Prosecutor Ivan Semchishin as deputy prosecutors.

On June 27, Interfax reported that all 13 deputy prosecutors submitted their resignations to Chaika during his first day in office.

(Interfax, "The Moscow Times")

MORE: For coverage of this topic from RFE/RL's Russian Service in Russian, click here.

RFE/RL Russia Report

SUBSCRIBE For news and analysis on Russia by e-mail, subscribe to "RFE/RL Russia Report."

Syrians in the northwestern town of Kfar Nubul pose with a cartoon depicting Russia

Angry Over Syria, Arab World Threatens Russian Boycott

Groups in a number of Arab states, angry over the Russian-Chinese veto of a UN resolution aimed at stopping the violence in Syria, have called for a one-day boycott of Russian and Chinese goods on February 12. More

Alla Dzhioyeva attends a protest by her supporters in Tskhinvali on January 28.

South Ossetian Opposition Leader Hospitalized After Raid

Alla Dzhioyeva, the opposition candidate whose victory in a runoff ballot in November for de facto president of Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia was swiftly annulled by the republic's Supreme Court, was taken to a hospital after a raid by some 200 masked security personnel on her headquarters in Tskhinvali. More

Protesters gather behind a banner reading "Honest Elections" during a demonstration in Moscow on February 4.

How To Rig An Election

A whistle-blower in Samara explains how the authorities fixed the Duma elections in December -- and plan to do the same in the presidential vote in March. More