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 and features
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.
11 Oct 2011 | Index Index, minipost
One of Ukraine‘s most popular and powerful politicians has been sentenced to seven years in prison. Yulia V Tymoshenko carried out negotiations with Russia regarding the price of natural gas during 2009, which cost the Ukrainian treasury £118 million, and damaged the country’s own gas industry. The judge, Rodion Kireye, said that Tymoshenko had “used her official powers to criminal ends”, and “committed actions which clearly exceeded her rights and powers”. Tymoshenko believes that the trial is politically-motivated revenge. The European Union immediately issued a message via Twitter saying it was “deeply disappointed with the verdict”.
