Russia is a morally bankrupt, mafia state, where the elite few steal, kill and oppress.

G'Day ATS,

I usually try (not always successfully I might add!) to conduct myself with manners and decorum on ATS. I always attempt to respect nations and be sensitive of the ideas and beliefs, laws and methods employed in the countries discussed here or of the members posting here on ATS.

However I feel obliged to post this, it will not be much more than a rant really. A rant sourced from the msm that really tells a story. The story of a disgusting nation, one that is morally bankrupt to its core. One that murders and pleads innocence, steals and embezzles to line the pockets of the elite. "What's new" hear you say. Well that may be true, maybe the difference is that Russia does it on an unprecedented scale. brazenly murdering journalists, civilians, robbing BILLIONS and getting away with it.

A country where officials feel no pressure to uphold the law, detain a person and let him die in prison:

The Telegraph: Sergei Magnitsky: European Parliament recommends tough sanctions on Russian officials

In a vote that caused friction with Moscow, the parliament backed a resolution that opens the door for EU member states, including Britain, to introduce a visa ban and freeze the bank accounts of the officials.

The move, which was supported by 318 MEPs, is the latest salvo in a campaign designed to punish those the late lawyer's friends and colleagues believe were responsible for his death in a Russian prison.

Mr Magnitsky, a 37-year-old external lawyer for William Browder's London-based Hermitage Capital, died in jail in November 2009 after being held for more than a year without trial or proper medical treatment for a pancreatic complaint.

A state that silences critics, both on Russian soil and crucially abroad too:

BBC: Litvinenko death fuels UK-Russia spy war

One year after the agonising death from polonium poisoning of former KGB officer-turned-dissident Alexander Litvinenko, relations between Britain and Russia have gone from strained to rocky.

Litvinenko was a British citizen (his citizenship came through shortly before he was poisoned) and his death in a London hospital was investigated with some urgency by detectives from Scotland Yard's Counter Terrorism Command.

In January 2007 the Metropolitan Police handed the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) a file that contained, among other things, the name of their chief suspect in the case: Andrei Lugovoi, another ex-KGB officer who had met Litvinenko for tea at the time he fell ill.

Amnesty International: Anna Politkovskaya’s killer still at large four years on

This week it is four years since the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, the journalist who since 1999 had written continuously about human rights abuses in Chechnya for the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta.

On Saturday, 7 October 2006 Anna Politkovskaya was shot entering the elevator of the apartment building in the centre of Moscow where she lived. The woman who had faced many dangerous situations and who had been threatened repeatedly was shot at pointblank range after returning from a trip to a supermarket.

The person suspected of shooting her is still at large. Lawyers of the family of Anna Politkovskaya fear that there is a lack of will on the part of the authorities to vigorously investigate the case.

The Telegraph: Why are Russian journalists being killed?

Earlier this month, Oleg Kashin, a reporter for the leading Russian daily Kommersant, was beaten half to death near his home in the historic centre of Moscow. The same day, a CCTV recording was “leaked” on the web in which you cannot discern the faces of the attackers, but can clearly see that they were beating the reporter not merely to intimidate or “warn” him, but to kill him. It is a miracle that he survived after being clubbed so many times over the head with an iron bar.

This is yet another brutal attack on a journalist in Russia, where eight media workers have fallen victim to violence this year alone, murdered “for their profession”. A total of 40 assaults have been reported.

About the same time another journalist, Anatoly Adamchuk, was assaulted – thankfully with less severe injuries – in the Moscow region town of Zhukovsky. A writer for a local newspaper, Adamchuk has been a vocal critic of extensive tree removal in a neighbouring forest as part of a road-building project. Two days before Kashin’s beating, Konstantin Fetisov, an environmental activist, was savagely battered in Khimki, another town on the outskirts of Moscow. He remains in a coma.

Okay, we've already explored one facet of this sick and twisted state. Lets look at another, corruption:

Reuters: Russia corruption "may force Western firms to quit"

Extortion by corrupt officials in Russia has got so bad that some Western multinationals are considering pulling out altogether, the head of a U.S. anti-bribery group said in an interview.

Alexandra Wrage, whose non-profit organization TRACE International advises firms on how to avoid bribery, told Reuters the "rampant endemic" corruption in Russia was much worse than in other big emerging economies.

"My recommendation is: 'Maybe you should reconsider doing business in Russia,'" she said. "I am considerably more optimistic about Nigeria than I am about Russia on this issue."

Berlin-based NGO Transparency International rates Russia joint 146th out of 180 nations in its Corruption Perception Index, saying bribe-taking is worth about $300 billion a year.

The Guardian: WikiLeaks cables condemn Russia as 'mafia state'

Russia is a corrupt, autocratic kleptocracy centred on the leadership of Vladimir Putin, in which officials, oligarchs and organised crime are bound together to create a "virtual mafia state", according to leaked secret diplomatic cables that provide a damning American assessment of its erstwhile rival superpower.

• Russian spies use senior mafia bosses to carry out criminal operations such as arms trafficking.

• Law enforcement agencies such as the police, spy agencies and the prosecutor's office operate a de facto protection racket for criminal networks.

• Rampant bribery acts like a parallel tax system for the personal enrichment of police, officials and the KGB's successor, the federal security service (FSB).

• Investigators looking into Russian mafia links to Spain have compiled a list of Russian prosecutors, military officers and politicians who have dealings with organised crime networks.

• Putin is accused of amassing "illicit proceeds" from his time in office, which various sources allege are hidden overseas.

Now lets look at this last point:

Putin, the Kremlin power struggle and the $40bn fortune

Citing sources inside the president's administration, Belkovsky claims that after eight years in power Putin has secretly accumulated more than $40bn (£20bn). The sum would make him Russia's - and Europe's - richest man.

In an interview with the Guardian, Belkovsky repeated his claims that Putin owns vast holdings in three Russian oil and gas companies, concealed behind a "non-transparent network of offshore trusts".

Putin "effectively" controls 37% of the shares of Surgutneftegaz, an oil exploration company and Russia's third biggest oil producer, worth $20bn, he says. He also owns 4.5% of Gazprom, and "at least 75%" of Gunvor, a mysterious Swiss-based oil trader, founded by Gennady Timchenko, a friend of the president's, Belkovsky alleges.

Asked how much Putin was worth, Belkovsky said: "At least $40bn. Maximum we cannot know. I suspect there are some businesses I know nothing about." He added: "It may be more. It may be much more.

I'm sorry, but when the leader of a country leaves office with a 40 BILLION DOLLAR RETIREMENT FUND. you have to know that he has robbed you blind, It's just sick. I get pissed off when I think of Tony Blair making millions from the lecture circuit, if I found out he had a BILLION POUNDS in a Swiss bank from his time in office.......god help him!!!

It boils my blood. I appreciate that all our countries are corrupt, all lead by a select few. But they pale in comparison to Russia. What can we do about it, not a lot my friends, not while they have huge natural resources and rulers that make George Bush and the Neo-Cons look like members of the Salvation Army, but I wanted to get this out there...........

.......rant over, all the best ATS, Kiwi NWO

If the US isn't careful in the next ten years the situation in Russia could become the situation here.

Its a terrible mess that only the Russians can really fix. At the same time Putin has done much for Russia, bringing them back from the brink of being a third world country.

The US and the EU can cut dialogue and cooperation with Putin's Russia, but I think that will only make things worse. There isn't any easy solutions or answers.

Interesting read but I'm left with the feeling that its not really all that different from the good old US of A,

Tickity boo, here is line TWO!!!!!!!

Originally posted by MikeboydUS


Its a terrible mess that only the Russians can really fix. At the same time Putin has done much for Russia, bringing them back from the brink of being a third world country.

I saw in a documentary, that this is true, for a tiny minority.

If you travel a few hundred metres away from the plush downtown centre of Moscow, it's like travelling in a time machine to Dostoevsky's Russia. The new, hedonistic, materialistic rich are living like billionaires, while the reality is it IS a third world country.

God help us if we ever get that bad!

reply to post by kiwifoot


Dear Kiwifoot,
Nice post. I'm kind of surprised you were shocked to find this out. Perhaps you're naive, or perhaps you truly were not aware, just to push your point a little further with regards Russia, it was the same prior to the fall of the USSR for the record.

Anyway, again a little surprised at your singling out Russia but i'll add to post a little further above this one: Nigh on all countries are the same, the US being one of the worst along with Israel. Every country is now virtually devoid of morality and corrupt to it's core. The US senate is one of the most "bought and paid" for institutions on the planet, similarly with the House of Lords in the UK.

Everything is controlled, corrupt and designed to enrich the very top 1% and screw the rest of us.

Eye wide open my friend, wide wide open.

Regards,
T

"[insert text] is a morally bankrupt, mafia state, where the elite few steal, kill and oppress.,"

i think you could label pretty much any country as this.

Russia used to be quite civilised, until it was taken over by the Bolsheviks. They created the system that is now in place. Who were the Bolsheviks, what did they all have in common, and who financed them all? Look that up for a real eye opener. Ask any actual Russian who these "Russian gangsters" are and see what they say.

As far as it being run like a giant mafia, well, it's Romper Room compared to the US. "You wouldn't want youse restraunt to burn down, now wouldja? If youse pay us our protection we will make sure it don't happen"...Compare that with "FEAR the TERRORISTS! Pay your taxes, and bend over for the anal probe, so we can "protect" you from them..."

Putin left with only 40 billion? What is Bush worth? How about his idiot son's handler, Cheney? Methinks a tad more than that.....

Russian corporate corruption is less elegant. More blatant. However the effect is the same, a concentration of the nations wealth into the hands of a small minority.

Its getting worse too. With recent developments I can only conclude that western governments have decided the way to repeat Chinas economic success is to copy its political model.. :-(

reply to post by kiwifoot


OK I realize that this was a sore spot with you over 2 years ago but in light of the latest election results and Obama's connection to the Kremlin it is important to take a look at where this stands today for not only the US but all of the western world.

Check out this article from a recent think tank:

U.S.-Russia ‘reset’ hasn’t changed stance By Ilan Berman The Washington Times November 8, 2012 You might not be familiar with Sergei Magnitsky, the 37-year-old Russian lawyer who died of medical complications while languishing in a Moscow prison back in 2009.

You should be — Magnitsky’s case is worth knowing, both because of what it says about the nature of the Russian state and because it could soon prompt a substantial shake-up in U.S.-Russian relations.

A lawyer for the Moscow-based Hermitage Capital investment fund, Magnitsky ran afoul of Russian authorities when he stumbled across, and dutifully reported, evidence of massive official corruption. For his trouble, he was imprisoned and held without trial for nearly a year in squalid conditions on trumped-up charges of tax evasion and tax fraud. Toward the end of his incarceration, Magnitsky developed gall stones and pancreatitis, but he was denied proper medical attention by prison authorities. He died in November 2009 as a result.

To add insult to injury, Russia's Interior Ministry has since posthumously moved ahead with prosecuting Magnitsky. Like the rest of the circumstances surrounding Magnitsky’s demise, the current case is fraught with absurdity. Hermitage lawyers believe that documents relating to the affair have been falsified, but so far — in time-honored Soviet tradition — they have been denied permission to see the case file for their client. The Magnitsky case has generated considerable public outrage internationally.

The White House, however, hasn’t had much to say about it. In fact, it has done a great deal to try to sweep the Magnitsky affair under the political carpet. The reason is obvious. Since 2009, the Obama administration’s obsession with a “reset” of relations with Russia has resulted in an attempt to forge a new political relationship with the Kremlin on everything from arms control to normalized trade relations.

To be fair, the “reset” has had some tactical successes — most notably, Russia’s acquiescence to the use of its airspace to resupply troops in Afghanistan, following Pakistan’s closure of overland supply routes into Southwest Asia last year.

www.afpc.org...

I believe we really need a Russia Forum here.

It always infuriates me when people go around bashing America and stand up for China and Russia, just because they are the "other guy"

I have a lot Russian heritage (about 3 generations of family away) and I feel.... I don't really know how to explain, a soft spot for Russia? I admire the people and the culture but am well aware of the terrible dealings going on there, so if I have this positive feeling for them and still recognize their issues I don't get why some others are so blind.

Russian history is fascinating and they always seemed to me as like the "exotic Europe" if you see what I'm saying. Wouldn't want to go there today though, their mafia is out of control and there are heaps of social issues I wouldn't want to tango with.

Good thread and hopefully it'll open peoples eyes to the fact that around the world corruption and evil exists at the highest levels, and that we need to work together- not bicker over what country is the bad guy, to make this world a better place.

reply to post by kiwifoot


And you don't think things like that happens on U.S. soil? The only difference between Russia and the United States is that the United States has one hell of a propaganda machine - The Main Stream Media.

Russia isn't perfect. Neither is America.