Live Updates: Pussy Riot, Khodorkovsky, and Greenpeace Given Amnesty

December 23, 2013

The headline is huge: As part of an amnesty bill, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Russian Constitution, many high profile prisoners could be set free as early as this week. The list of those included in the amnesty appears to include the two imprisoned members of Pussy Riot, as well as the Greenpeace activists […]

Russian Thinkers Comment On Amnesty Bill

December 18, 2013

The liberal magazine Snob.ru has collected quotes on today’s amnesty bill from various thinkers across the political spectrum. Note that some of the differences in numbers and facts can be attributed to the fact that the full effects of the amnesty bill are not yet known. See our liveblog for updates and additional details. — […]

Russian Supreme Court Declares Pussy Riot Sentence Unlawful

December 10, 2013

Yesterday, Russian state-owned media outlets carried a “leaked” report that the imprisoned Pussy Riot members were included in the draft amnesty bill. Today, it has been announced that the Supreme Court has thrown out their sentences anyway. As their prison terms are set to expire early next year, this is being interpreted by many as […]

“For Our Freedom and Yours”

December 5, 2013

When the artist Pavel Pavlensky stripped naked on Red Square last month, then sat down on the cold cobblestones and nailed his scrotum to the ground, many people were not so much shocked as hoping to scrub the cringing image from their eyes. He didn’t quite gain the hipster world-wide popularity and saturation media coverage […]

The Russian Tax Man: Return to the Bad Old Days?

November 26, 2013

Recently, Russian President Vladimir Putin attracted international attention when he appeared to publicly rebuke his Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. For all the attention the incident received, the reason for the dispute between Medvedev and Putin has been largely ignored by the media. The Interpreter’s Andrew Bowen examines the new tax fraud laws, backed by Putin, […]

Why Europe Needs a Magnitsky Law

November 11, 2013

The Interpreter’s Elena Sevettaz, a Russian-French journalist, has published a book about Sergei Magnitsky, whose death in prison, and post-mortem trial and conviction, sparked protests around the world, eventually leading to the Obama administration passing sanctions against Russian officials involved in the case. The Russian government responded by blocking American adoptions of Russian children. The new […]