Russian Justice, Slow But On the March

Last week, a Russian court sentenced 4 men to 19 years in prison, in other words, longer then their life expectancy in prison, for the 2002 murder of Valentin Tsvetkov, 54, governor of Magadan. The reformist governor was shot in Oct 2002, leaving his office, in front of his wife. Vladimir Putin, then president, described the murder as a crime against Russia. The Western media, as always, blamed it on Putin, their standard propaganda move. Luckily when critics or former allies of the various rulers of the Anglo-Sphere get murdered, for things like telling the truth on Iraq before the war started, have their wive's cars explode into flame with their wives unconscious in them or have their bodies found in land dumps, it is never blamed on those in power but on mysterious foreigners and freak accidents.

Part of the delay was the length of time to extradite the main two heads of the crime. Alexander Zakharov was extradited from Spain in 2007 and Martin Babakesyan was extradited from Spain in 2008, while the other two: Artur Anisimov and Masis Akhunts were already held. See England, at least some European countries believe in Justice and do send criminals home, instead of giving them citizenship and defense, if they have enough cash.

The murder was committed over Tsvetkov's attempts to overhaul the local gold mining operations, installing and enforcing fishing quotas and the use of state funds for bringing in fuel and food in the winter. In other words, huge money was at stake for Zakharov and Babakesyan.

Also in the news is the beginning of two murder trials for the murders of lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova. They were shot dead on January 19, 2009, in central Moscow. Nikolai Tikhonov and Yevgenia Khasis, members of a radical neo-Nazi nationalist group, were charged with the murders. Presiding Judge Alexander Zamashnyu, stressed to the jury that the prosecution had to prove the defendant's guilt, saying "The defense is not supposed to prove [their] innocence,"

The defendants pleaded not guilty.