19 Oct 2011 | Europe and Central Asia, Index Index, minipost
Members of the Russian artist group VOINA were arrested yesterday. Russian police, allegedly posing as German television journalists, arrested and detained Natalia Sokol along with her two-year-old son overnight at a police station in Moscow. Sokol’s requests to speak to her lawyer were rejected. On the same night, plain clothes police tried to break into the apartment of another VOINA member, Leonid Nikolayev. Only weeks ago, all charges against the group were dropped by an investigations committee. Read more about the political street art that has taken Russia by storm in the latest issue of the magazine, The Art Issue, which explores censorship in the contemporary art world.
18 Oct 2011 | Index Index, minipost
Yelena Baturina, one of Russia’s wealthiest women, has won damages from The Sunday Times after the newspaper wrongly reported that she purchased a £50m London mansion through an off-shore “front company”. It was a sensitive topic because Baturina’s husband Yuri Luzkhov was mayor of Moscow at the time and as the wife of a public official her financial assets had to be made public under anti-corruption legislation. Baturina was issued an apology and financial compensation.
14 Oct 2011 | Index Index, minipost, News
A Russian property developer who was punched during a talkshow, is suing for libel in England after his assailant, fellow Russian tycoon Alexander Lebedev said he deserved the beating. Sergei Polonsky is suing Lebedev, owner of the Independent and London Evening Standard for defamation following their altercation in September. Lebedev told the BBC that Polonsky had insulted him for 90 minutes. Criminal proceedings for assault have begun in Russia.
3 Oct 2011 | Index Index, minipost
Forty people have been arrested in Moscow during a gay pride rally. The rally, which took place on 1 October was one of the few gay rights events which had been approved by authorities. Participants in the rally found themselves faced with protesters, some of whom threw tomatoes at them. Authorities are trying to work out how many of those arrested were involved in the rally, and how many were trying to stop it. Attempts to hold gay pride marches in Russian cities in the past have been blocked by police, church activists and football fans. The arrests follow reports that Russia’s Arkhangelsk region has adopted a draft law banning all events promoting homosexuality, including Gay Pride marches.
