THIS ISSUE: Nov / Dec 2000, Vol.1, No.2


  FEATURE STORIES

Revolution in Yugoslavia!

Reuters

The Balkans are on fire again: It seems the 20th Century turmoil has spilled over to the 21st Century with the cold barbarism of past centuries. President Slobodan Milosevic’s 13 year-rule came to an end tyrants are familiar with. The people he used and exploited turned against him and stormed the Parliament building and the Television station.

A common mistake was his attempt to try fool the world that he was embracing a democratic state by holding an election against an opponent who had the support to defeat him. Rather silly on his behalf.


Berezovsky offers up ‘constructive criticism’

The Russia Journal

"There is only one way of dealing with terrorists -through agreement. No other way exists," Berezovsky said.
The ‘intellectual’ opposition to Putin comes from the recent afront to press freedoms. The jailing of Gusinsky last month brought back fears of past decades when people were taken away and if you were not famous, you were not heard of again.

Launching a movement to counter what he sees as Russia's slide toward authoritarianism, financier Boris Berezovsky assailed President Vladimir Putin and his North Caucasus policies – and predicted Russia would face further terrorist attacks of the type that struck Pushkin Square on Tuesday.

"This [bombing] will happen again if the policy of ‘smashing the bandits in their lairs’ continues," Berezovsky said, referring to Putin's comments late last year that he would eradicate the terrorist threat in Chechnya.    FULL STORY...



Did Berezovsky Pillage Aeroflot?

By VYACHESLAV KUZMIN


The prosecutor's office is ready to make Berezovsky accountable for pillaging Aeroflot. But let's look more closely.

In 1995, Berezovsky took control of the state-owned company Aeroflot. He didn't buy shares or privitize it. He simply placed people loyal to him -Krasnecker and Glushkov - in key posts in the company.
 After this, all of the hard currency passed through two Swiss companies, Andava and Forus. Seventy-eight per cent of the shares belonged to Berezovsky and Glushkov.    FULL STORY...



Prosecutor orders Gusinski's Arrest

By Andrei Zolotov Jr.


"...a steady criminal group within the Prosecutors Office,"
The Prosecutor General's Office on Monday ordered the arrest of Media-MOST head Vladmir Gusinsky on charges of swindling the state-controlled natural gas giant, Gazprom.
  The charges were filed two days after Media-MOST and Gazprom signed a deal settling Media-MOST's debt to Gazprom [$473 million]. The Kremlin is trying to gag Gusinsky's N.T.V television station for its criticism of the government, in particular, Putin's policies.    FULL STORY...

  Russia's Judicial System

By Nikita Ivanov:


"Under the 1993 constitution the state guarantees the rights and freedoms of all citizens,"
After the 1917 Revolution, the old tsarist judges -contemptously referred to as Konniki or "legalists"- were dismissed and replaced with new "proletarian" adjudicators.

It marked the beginning of a new era when judges were no longer bound by formal law, but only guided by their "proletarian sense of justice." These judges happily embraced this idea, which provided them with virtually unrestricted discretion and power. Perestroika and "democratic reform" in Russia have not changed much in this regard.
   FULL STORY...