Watchdog fined

A Russian court on Friday found the respected independent watchdog Golos guilty of violations, just two days ahead of Sunday's parliamentary election, which the organization was set to monitor.

Golos compiles complaints of election law violations and posts them online. It has collected more than 4,700 complaints, most of them for United Russia, the dominant party of President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The court found that Golos' website violated a law forbidding the publication of public opinion research within five days of an election and fined the organization 30,000 rubles (721 euros, $972).

"They are afraid that Golos will tell the truth. They are concerned that they cannot control us," Golos' deputy director Grigory Melkonyants said. "They might silence Golos, but they will not silence those people who witness these violations every day."

While the group said it still plans to send out 3,000 activists to observe the election, its lawyer Ramil Akhmetgaliev was not sure that would be possible.

"There could be a case to close down the organization," he said. "It depends on how they want to use the law."

A Kremlin target

Members of Golos - which means "voice" in Russian - say that in ten years of documenting election fraud, the organization has never been under so much government pressure. Speaking at a United Russia congress on Sunday, Putin lashed out at Western attempts to "influence the course of the election campaign" through Russian NGOs and said it was "money thrown to the wind."

A half-hour documentary shown on Kremlin-controlled NTV television on Friday night attacked the group directly, showing shots of suitcases full of US dollars and claiming Golos supports opposition parties.

Golos says it does accept grants from the US and Europe because Russian businesses are scared to support it.

"We will soon find out how effective these investments in Golos are," the TV program concluded. "After all, no one provides funding without a reason."

Warnings of a divided parliament

In a televised address on Friday Medvedev warned voters of the danger of a parliament "torn by irreconcilable conflicts, incapable of making a decision."

Putin also expressed concern over a divided legislature, saying parliament would be unable to work effectively if members "are punching one another, fighting, pulling one another's hair, as occurs in certain neighboring countries."

A poll released last week by the independent Levada Center predicted United Russia would win about 53 percent of the vote, enough to maintain control but not enough to amend the constitution, which requires a two-thirds majority.

Six other Kremlin-approved parties will take part in the elections while the most active opposition groups have been disqualified and barred.

"Everbody understands that this election is without any kind of choice," Lilia Shevtsova, a political scientist at the Carnegie Moscow Center told the news agency AP. "More than 55 percent of Russians consider that the forthcoming elections will be fraudulent and will be manipulated."

Author: Holly Fox (AFP, AP)
Editor: Spencer Kimball