A Russian Diary

by Anna Politkovskaya

  August 9

  The mysterious deaths of people very close to the state authorities continue. In Sochi, Pyotr Semenenko has fallen from a window on the fifteenth floor of the White Nights Hotel. For the past eighteen years he had been the CEO of Russia's largest machine tools factory, the Kirov, which produces everything from sanitary ware to the turbines for nuclear submarines.

  Semenenko was a major industrial player, and from St. Petersburg to boot. Most people suppose the main reason he was murdered is disagreements over the sharing out of major industrial assets under the Putin system of state capitalism. That he was helped to fall from the fifteenth floor nobody has any doubt.

  In the Matrosskaya Tishina prison, meanwhile, Mikhail Khodor-kovsky has been moved from investigative detention cell No. 4, which holds four prisoners, to investigative detention cell No. 1, which holds eleven. He is no longer allowed to receive newspapers or watch television. The reason is undoubtedly his article “Left Turn,” written in prison and published in the newspaper Vedomosti. These are its main ideas:

  In spite of all the state's deviousness, those on the left will win in the end. What is more, they will win democratically, in complete accord with the expressed will of a majority of the electorate. There will be a turn to the left, and those who continue to pursue the policies of today's authorities will lose their legitimacy …

  We should not overlook the fact that our compatriots have become much cannier than they were ten years ago. People who have been fooled on more than one occasion will not fall for another bluff, no matter how ingenious or eloquently presented. Pulling off the Successor-2008 project is not going to be that easy.

  The resources of the post-Soviet authoritarian project in Russia have been exhausted.

  Not completely, I fear.

  Novaya Gazeta invited our readers to submit questions to Khodor-kovsky by e-mail and published replies that he sent from prison.

  SERGEY PANTELEYEV, a student from Moscow: “The bureaucrats have decided to own the state, not to be its hired servants. Am I right in believing that this was the real reason for the seizure of Yukos?”

  KHODORKOVSKY: “Dear Sergey, they do not want to own the state, but to own tangible assets, and in particular the most successful company in the country, Yukos. More precisely, they want to get their hands on its income. You are right that the seizure and plundering of Yukos is being carried out behind a smokescreen of talk about the interests of the state. Of course that is not the reality. Destroying Yukos will cause colossal damage to the interests of Russia. These bureaucrats are simply trying to deceive society by presenting their personal interests as those of the state.”

  A question from GOBLIN (presumably a pseudonym): “Are you not hurt that your friends fled abroad, instead of ignoring all the risks and coming back to join you and Platon Lebedev?”

  KHODORKOVSKY: “ Dear Goblin, being thrown into prison is not something I would wish on my worst enemy, let alone my friends. Accordingly, I am very happy for all my friends who have managed to avoid arrest. What I most regret is that some of my comrades and colleagues have been arrested in connection with the Yukos affair, notably Svetlana Bakhmina, who is the mother of two small children.”

  A question from VERA, Tomsk: “You are being forced to start life all over again. Will you find the strength in yourself, or is your life's main work already in the past?”

  KHODORKOVSKY: “ Dear Vera, in prison I have understood one simple but difficult truth: the main thing is not to have, but to be. What matters is the human being, not the circumstances in which he finds himself. For me business is a thing of the past, but I am not starting my new life from scratch, because I carry forward an enormous amount of experience. I even thank fate for the unique opportunity of living two lives, despite having paid so heavily for the privilege.”

  On the same day, August 9, Khodorkovsky's and Lebedev's lawyers received an order setting a deadline for completing their study of the records of the court hearings. They had been allowed to see them at the Meshchansky district court from July 27, but all kinds of difficulties now began to arise. On July 28, lawyer Krasnov was not given the records to read “for technical reasons.” Lawyer Liptser was also turned down the same day, because part of the record was “currently being studied by the state prosecutor.”

  Between July 29 and August 8 the lawyers were able to read only the records for 2004, because those for 2005 were said to be with the state prosecutor. On August 5 the lawyers received through the post a “second” notice (although there had been no first) instructing them to come to the court on August 5 (i.e., that same day), to receive “copies of the records of the court hearing.” When they read these, they discovered that they differed from the original and from the audio recording of the court hearings. Moreover, the supposed copies had not been officially certified, nor was there any numbering of the volumes, internal pagination, or a list of contents. The lawyers were indignant and lodged complaints and an official refusal to accept “copies” that did not correspond to the originals. In reply the court dumped the unsatisfactory “copies” on them through their chambers.

  On August 9 permission to view the original records was refused point-blank. In order to prevent the lawyers from being able to complain to Strasbourg, the acting chairman of the court, Kurdyukov, refused to confirm in writing that they would not be given access to the official records of the court hearings and must work solely from the “copies.” They were given until August 25 to comment on them.

  Why is Svetlana Bakhmina, whom Khodorkovsky mentioned in one of his replies, being held in prison?

  The employees of Yukos saw their colleague's arrest as a warning. It was obvious to practically everybody in the company that, as part of the campaign against Yukos, the procurator general was targeting rank-and-file employees. In fact, if Khodorkovsky was being accused of things that could apply to the vast majority of leading Russian businessmen, then the accusations against Bakhmina could be applied to nearly all ordinary citizens.

  Svetlana Bakhmina was paid a salary by Yukos throughout the almost seven years she worked there. According to the accusation concocted by the procurator general, for the greater part of this time she was guilty of a crime under Part 2 of Article 198 (“Non-payment of exceptionally large amounts of tax by private individuals”). Under this article, Bakhmina faces three years in jail, even though she has not in fact broken any law, any more than Yukos has when paying her through a so-called insurance scheme.

  These schemes became widespread in Russia during the period when income tax was set at the punitive level of 35 percent, with even more punitive social welfare contributions. The essence of the scheme was that the employee insured his or her life using the company's money, and then received contractual insurance payouts that were effectively the wages due. Since insurance payments were not subject to income tax and were permissible under the tax legislation then in force, the system was used by many private companies, state institutions and ministries, including, let it be noted, the Ministry of Taxation and Excise Revenue.

  Now it transpires that you can be imprisoned for this. You could imprison the vast majority of the adult working population for exactly the same offense. If the court finds Bakhmina guilty, the country's workers will be in serious jeopardy. The authorities would be able to bring criminal charges against huge numbers of people at will. No matter how law-abiding you might be, you could still be imprisoned for the tax policies of your employer, even if you knew nothing about them.

  *

  Putin was supposed to have nominated by today the forty-two citizens he wanted as the leading lights of his Social Chamber. He has been unable to, because those he would like to get, especially those with a reputation for independent-mindedness, have no wish to be involved, while those who do want to get in are too minor to attest to the democratic credentials of Putin, or so servile that the chamber would be a laughingstock.

  August 11

  In Urus-Martan six unidentifi
ed paramilitaries have abducted Natasha Khumadova, forty-five, the sister of the Chechen field commander Doku Umarov. Umarov is the second most senior field commander after Basaev. Nothing is known of her fate. In Urus-Martan this is thought to have been the work of Kadyrov troops.

  The seizure of counter-hostages is becoming increasingly common, and this was clearly one such maneuver, intended to coerce Umarov into surrendering to federal forces. Some Chechens think this is fair enough, and that primitive methods work better than legal methods. Others are simply waiting for the right moment to wreak revenge on Russia.

  August 12

  In Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, forty-five members of the Union of Communist Youth have held a march for freedom and democracy. They marched through the center of town bearing anti-Putin slogans. People called after them, “Well done! To hell with their Putin!,” but didn't join in. By no means everybody cares for the Communist Youth. People are even rather afraid of them, with their portraits of Che Guevara and his ilk. I would not march under those portraits. These young people have no experience of the consequences of revolution and were born at the very end of the “period of stagnation,” or in the Gorbachev-early Yeltsin era; the ideas of Communism appeal to them.

  Kasparov's United Citizens’ Front is aiming to bring everybody together: the Young Communists, provincial supporters of Rodina, what remains of the democratic right, Yabloko supporters in the regions who have given up on Yavlinsky, the National Bolsheviks, and the anarchists. All unite against the regime! After we have won, we can decide what to do next. That's the best program the democrats can manage.

  Today, an appeal was heard in Zamoskvorechiye court, with Judge Ye-lena Potapova presiding, against Deputy Procurator Yudin's refusal on July 22 to grant the militia a warrant for the arrest of Sergey Melnikov, a “simple Russian entrepreneur.”

  Attempting to challenge the actions of the procurator's office is highly unusual, if not impossible. It is also very rare for Russians to agree to be witnesses against mafiosi, as the retaliation can be brutal and the state authorities give no support. Corruption, now more widespread than ever, ensures that those who can't pay get no protection. Accordingly, when Yudin refused to sanction the arrest of Melnikov, those of his victims who had given evidence were in quite a quandary when the deputy procurator decided to use his powers in favor of their tormentor rather than them.

  Judge Potapova was nervous and irritable, but lawyer Alexey Zav-gorodny appealed to her to put herself in the shoes of Melnikov's victims, from whom he had been extorting protection money. Melnikov himself, of course, was not there, but his lawyer and confidante, Natalia Davydova, was.

  Ms. Davydova is a loud, sarcastic woman who has been representing and advising some forty members of the Togliatti mafia for several years. The Moscow city procurator's office ought to be taking no nonsense from a lawyer with clients like these, but today its representative in court is Yelena Levshina. Levshina repeats to the court exactly what Davydova has already said. We seem to be listening to a monstrous, well-rehearsed duet, as the two ladies insist to the judge that it is impossible to create a precedent where the procurator might appear not to be in the right: he is always right. It is a reduction to absurdity of the principle that the procurator must be independent of the courts.

  Davydova turns up the pathos and paints a touching picture of decent, law-abiding gangsters. Melnikov gave himself up to the militia voluntarily, they heard what he had to say, were sympathetic and let him go on his way. Accordingly, Melnikov had de facto invalidated the federal search warrant, and his detention on July 22 was illegal; Deputy Procurator Yudin had merely restored the rule of law that had been violated. This, of course, is complete poppycock. There is no suggestion in the Melnikov file that he voluntarily surrendered himself to anybody.

  Judge Potapova retired to consider her verdict, and soon returned to declare that the procurator is always right, and had been right in this case too when he decided not to sanction Melnikov's arrest, even though a nationwide manhunt had been conducted to find him. She rejected the complaint, and found that the deputy procurator's actions did not infringe the constitutional rights of Melnikov's victims. Other, of course, than the very important right to life.

  “Russia's social and political arrangements are profoundly unjust,” Vladimir Ryzhkov tells everyone. He is one of the hopes for a democratic revival, young and from the provinces, which goes down well with the public.

  It is, however, precisely these “unjust arrangements” that reinforce social apathy and keep people extremely reluctant to stick their necks out. The habit of considering yourself a “small person” is like the red button in the president's nuclear suitcase—he has only to press it and the country is in his hands. I am quite sure that Putin and his entourage fight corruption solely for PR purposes. In reality, corruption is very much to their advantage; it plays an important role in conditioning people to keep quiet. While the courts are pulled this way and that by the criminals and the politicians, he has nothing to fear.

  Today is the third time Poles have been beaten up in Moscow, and this cannot be coincidental. Polish embassy staff and a Polish journalist have been attacked in the course of just a few days.

  This is the response of Nashi to the fact that on July 31 the children of Russian diplomats in Warsaw were beaten up after a disco: an outbreak of brotherly Slavonic xenophobia with a political subtext, which is very much in the style of Putin's Russia. The Poles have been getting above themselves recently, people are beginning to say, including some who are perfectly decent and educated. What Lenin called “vulgar great-power chauvinism,” which Putin suffers from, is back in fashion. So, if you beat up three of ours, we beat up three of yours. The fact that the official government response has been very sluggish and formal only shows that they approve.

  Yabloko demanded that Putin intervene personally and afford the Polish embassy special protection. The problem is that all the liberals and democrats can do nowadays is appeal to Putin, and appealing to Putin while simultaneously demanding his resignation is just not sensible.

  Nikita Belykh, the leader of the Union of Right Forces, has declared that “In the heart of most Russians is an urge to be better people. Our task is to make this clear to them.”

  Unfortunately, in the heart of most Russians is an urge to not stand out, and it is particularly in evidence today. We do not want to attract the evil eye of repressive institutions. We want to stay in the shadows. What you get up to in the shadows depends on your personality. Many would not want to emerge under any circumstances; there is a striving for self-improvement, of course, but keeping to the shadows lies much deeper in the heart of every Russian. After all that has happened here in the twentieth century alone, it is perhaps hardly surprising.

  An official survey has put Russia seventieth in the world in terms of the use it makes of its human potential.

  August 13

  The latest grassroots initiative to give Putin a third term has come from Adam Imadaev, a deputy of the legislative assembly of the Primorsky Region and well-known political bootlicker. He announces that he has found a loophole in the legislation that would allow Putin to be elected for a third time. The legal committee of the Primorsky Parliament instantly resolved to examine the matter in September.

  August 16

  The Supreme Court has caused a sensation by rescinding the Moscow provincial court's ban on the National Bolshevik Party. Old man Limonov was so touched that he said outside the court building that he had almost had his faith in Russia restored. The procurator general is very upset and has vowed to appeal against the decision to the Presidium of the Supreme Court.

  The National Bolsheviks celebrated by infiltrating the inaugural day of Putin's pride and joy the prestigious Moscow Aerospace Show 2005. All sorts of Arab sheikhs had flown in, as had representatives of the Indian military-industrial complex, and King Abdullah II of Jordan, a descendant of the Prophet. Despite incredible security measures, as soon as Putin began
his speech opening the show, the National Bolsheviks (God only knows how they had got in) started yelling only 30 meters away from him, “Down with Putin!” and something about his being responsible for Beslan. They were immediately pinioned and bundled off to the militia station in the nearby town of Zhukovskoye.

  Three hours later they were released without so much as a fine. They were totally amazed, having expected to end up in jail. It is possible that the militiamen at Zhukovskoye have no time for Putin. Strange things do happen.

  Putin got into a bomber at an airfield near the Aerospace Show and flew off with great aplomb to Murmansk Province. The defense people were quietly grinding their teeth; it might be good PR for Putin, but it was a security headache for them. Our generals are well trained, however, and know when not to answer back. They gave orders for Putin to be put in the cockpit, even though it is categorically against regulations. He briefly piloted the aircraft while it was cruising. The state-run mass media wept with delight: Putin was personally inspecting our military aviation! But why? Perhaps to boost his popularity rating?

  That evening the Nashists again beat up the National Bolsheviks. There is no point in even trying to talk to the Nashi, none of whom can explain coherently why they have joined the organization. The National Bolsheviks and other left-wing young people are a complete contrast, and highly motivated. Poor people on the left are potentially the most dynamic revolutionary force in Russia. The middle class is very plodding and aspires to no more than a bourgeois way of life, regretting only that, so far, they haven't quite got the means to support that level of consumption.

  Active left-wing organizations include the youth wing of Yabloko, which has become the backbone of Defense, the Russian equivalent of the Pora movement, which was so important to the success of the Ukrainian Orange Revolution. Defense also includes the youth wings of the Union of Right Forces, Marching without Putin, Collective Action, and Our Choice. The coordinator is Ilia Yashin, leader of the youth wing of Yabloko, which has about 2,000 members. Defense is drifting increasingly toward the left, and their protests resemble those of the National Bolsheviks more and more. For their part, the National Bolsheviks are moving toward mainstream democratic policies.