Putin Critics Can't Leave Russia
The Washington Post reports:
Two founders of a new Russian opposition party have been barred from leaving the country for six months, after court officials ruled that a correction they were ordered to publish did not have a large-enough headline and was missing a key word.
Vladimir Milov and Boris Nemstov were ordered to post a public correction to a pamphlet they had authored titled “Putin. Results. 10 Years,” which argued that old friends of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had risen to prominence and unfairly become rich through their association with him.
A businessman and Putin associate named Gennady Timchenko took them to court over their allegations. The court found in Timchenko’s favor and ordered the opposition politicians to publish a correction, at their own expense.
They did so, under protest, and bought space in the newspaper Kommersant. In it, they quoted their pamphlet as saying that old friends of Putin, such as Timchenko, who were “nobodies” before he came to power, were now billionaires — and that Putin was the actual beneficiary of the riches these “Timchenkos” had received.
Then they noted that the Moscow district court had found this to be false. The bailiffs’ service ruled this week that the headline on the correction — “Regarding Gennady Timchenko — Co-founder of the Gunvor Company” — was inadequate and did not contain the word “refutation,” as required.
Court-ordered travel restrictions are typically ordered for people who have unpaid debts or have some sort of material claim lodged against them. Milov said Wednesday he thinks this is the first time restrictions have been imposed in a private dispute that doesn’t involve money. He called the ruling “obviously ridiculous,” “unjustified” and “a political decision.”
