British riots in Russia absolutely impossible

The pogroms in Britain have proved it again that the European ideology of multiculturalism has gone down in flames. This problem is not a threat to Russia at all, but we can also come to certain conclusions after what happened in England.

The things that have been happening recently in British cities, are referred to as youth riots in the media. Let's call a spade a spade, though. The pogroms in Britain were indeed arranged by young people. However, it is enough to look close at the footage of TV reports to see that it is not just young people that went on rampage in British cities. The rioters are non-white young people. They represent the non-native part of the British population. Hundreds of young yobs from the outskirts do not set out any political or social requirements. They simply loot shops and cafes.

This is not a form of protest. This is just a rebellion. It turns out that the British riots, just like the Russian ones, are pointless and brutal. In 2005, the world could see the same in the streets of Paris.

One should not draw any comparisons with the events in the Arab states - these are completely different things. Any comparisons with the Moscow riots on Manezhnaya Square are not appropriate either. Read further to find out why.

There must be some reasons for such massive public disorders. Hundreds of people do not smash shops and torch buildings out of the blue. It turns out that they do and they do not need any visible reasons for that.

Any references to the social motive in the British events are groundless. Unlike Germany and Sweden, Britain can not be called a socialist country. Britain is all about pure capitalism. Nevertheless, social guarantees in Britain are rather strong. One would not say that poor people live in clover there, but no one will let them die from hunger - that's for sure. The fact that the rioters do not set forth any social requirements confirms that the riots are not based on social reasons.

What is the reason then? The killing of a non-native British young man in London was the flashpoint, but not the reason.

The reason is about the crisis of the so-called multiculturalism - the ideology that propagates peaceful co-existence of the people of different mindsets. To put it in a nutshell, the point of the ideology is as follows. You live in our country, you pay taxes and obey the laws, but as for the rest, you can do the things that you are used to doing. You can wear a burqa on your passport photo, you can call people to prayers through loudspeakers on minarets at 5 a.m., ask butchers not to sell pork in their meat shops because the sight of pork insults your religious feelings, etc.

All of the above-mentioned examples are absolutely real. As a result, the "new Europeans" continue to live the way they lived in their native lands. The native people, who want to live in England an France, rather than in Pakistani England or Algerian France, have to move to "white neighborhoods." Several towns in Britain are already populated by Pakistani nationals only. If you find yourself in such a town, you will not believe that you are staying in the good old England.

It goes without saying that the native Britons may not have good feelings about all that. Immigrants respond with similar sentiments, and violence sparks. The pogroms are pointless because they do not have any objective. At the same time, they are strong and violent because they are based on the perceived or unperceived sense of inferiority.

The crisis of multiculturalism exists in practically all European countries. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, for example, made a public statement in which she acknowledged that this problem was very serious in Germany too. Nicolas Sarkozy came to power in France because he promised the French to deal with the problem of immigration seriously.

Nationalist sentiments in the tolerant Europe have been rising steadily during the recent years. The blood-chilling terrorist attacks in Norway is a very bright example to prove it.

One may not doubt about the fact that the Europeans will be strong enough to solve their problems themselves. For us, it is more important to realize whether such things can happen in Russia. One can be absolutely certain to say: it is impossible. The reason why is simple: just like in the USA, multiculturalism has never existed in Russia.

Russia has a completely different ideology that has nothing to do with multiculturalism. The Russian ideology is like a melting pot, which creates one single nation that shares more or less common mindset. Russia has problems with natives of the Caucasus just like America has problems with black individuals. However, the category "Russian citizen" is much more relevant than categories "Russian", "Tatar" or "Yakut". The mindset of Russians, Tatars, Yakuts, Udmurts, and the majority of other peoples of Russia has become Russian during hundreds of years of co-existence. This is a huge advantage of Russia as a huge country. Those people who call themselves patriots and chant slogans "Russia for Russians" look ridiculous. There is nothing more non-patriotic than this slogan. If Russia follows this slogan, the country will collapse.

It is worthy of note that the mindset of Uzbeks or Tajiks is of course different than the Russian mindset. However, it is based on the same grounds anyway, thanks to the Soviet Union.

In Russia, no one hurries to grant Russian citizenship to the guests from former Soviet republics. This is another aspect that differs Russia from Europe, where the white population is already the minority in many cities. This detail excludes Uzbek or Tajik riots in Russia: they realize that they will be deported from the country instantly. This has already happened to taxi cab drivers from Central Asia, who arranged a massive fight in Moscow.

What about Manezhnaya Square? This is a completely different story. There were young people rioting on the square too, and the riot had nationalist motives. However, the most important thing that differs the events in Moscow from the riots in France and Britain is that there was the majority, not the minority that went on rampage near the Kremlin walls. This does not justify the rioters, of course, but it makes it all a completely different problem. It also proves that a national riot of non-native minorities in Russia is impossible.

Yulia Tymoshenko: Ukraine's 'Iron Lady'

KIEV, Ukraine -- Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukraine's ex-prime minister, who went on trial Friday, has combined feminine charisma with a hard-edged pragmatism in over a decade in the rough world of Ukrainian politics.
Far from being perturbed by a trial for abuse of power that could see her jailed for several years, Tymoshenko entered the courtroom Friday in one of her trademark pastel suits with her golden hair braid, as ever, intricately knotted on her head.

But the woman known in Ukraine as the "Iron Lady" after her heroine Margaret Thatcher or sometimes as just "Vona" ("She") has had to draw on all her reserves of political steel after a traumatic one-and-a-half years.

After helping lead the Orange Revolution and serving as prime minister, in early 2010 she set her sights on the top job of president but lost out in a bitterly personal contest to her arch-rival Viktor Yanukovych.

She stayed uncharacteristically silent for days after losing in the final round in February 2010, apparently already sensing that the consequences of her defeat would be more than just political.

Within months of losing the elections, prosecutors opened a criminal probe against her and she now faces charges on three separate counts of abuse of power.

Tymoshenko was forced to sign a pledge not to leave Kiev during the investigation and, although she has not been jailed, she has also witnessed the imprisonment of several former top allies in similar probes.

These included her former interior minister Yury Lutsenko, who staged a month-long hunger strike to protest his imprisonment but remains in detention.

"All authoritarian regimes are built on fear. It is very important to be able to cope with fear," Tymoshenko, who spent several weeks in prison half a decade ago, said earlier this year.

"I am not a monster without emotion. I have fear like any other person. But you can master it."

Tymoshenko, 50, has traditionally been seen as pro-Western, compared with Yanukovych's more pro-Russian tilt.

But she has repeatedly shown a capacity to shed her political skin and latterly while in power sought to position herself as being on good terms with Moscow, especially with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Born in the industrial city of Dnipropetrovsk in central Ukraine, Tymoshenko won prominence and allegedly huge wealth in the chaotic 1990s as head of United Energy Systems of Ukraine, which imported Russian gas.

One of her mentors from that era was former Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko, who helped her build up the business and is now jailed in the United States for embezzlement and money laundering.

Tymoshenko became a deputy prime minister under the presidency of Leonid Kuchma in 1999 but was fired in 2001 after falling out with him.

In a dramatic sequence of events, she was then briefly imprisoned on charges of forgery and gas smuggling.

The charges, which she says were politically motivated, were quashed in 2005 in mysterious circumstances.

Her businessman husband Olexander, whom she married as a teenager, was implicated in the same scandal and spent a year in jail and then two more years hiding from the authorities.

Tymoshenko was the chief ally of former President Viktor Yushchenko in the 2004 Orange Revolution that swept the old pro-Kuchma order from power, and she served twice as prime minister under Yushchenko's presidency.

But the pair's relationship descended into sometimes comical bickering as the two former Orange heroes developed an implacable enmity.

The Tymoshenkos' daughter Yevgenia, meanwhile, sparked tabloid interest in 2005 with her marriage to Sean Carr, a British hard rock musician.

Afghan Citizens Beaten In Detention At Ukraine Airport

KIEV, Ukraine -- Amnesty International has condemned the mistreatment of eight Afghan citizens awaiting deportation from Ukraine, who are being beaten by border guards and denied adequate food, water and medical treatment.
The eight men have been in detention at Boryspil Airport in Kiev for three days and sources have told Amnesty International that, as a result of the ill-treatment, some of them are so severely injured that they are unable to lie down.

"The Ukrainian authorities must stop these deportations," said Andrea Huber, Amnesty International's Deputy Director for Europe and Central Asia.

"They also need to rein in their border guards, and provide adequate medical treatment, food and water to these men as required by international law. The appalling reports of detainee abuse must be investigated immediately."

Some of the detained group applied for asylum in Ukraine, but their claims were rejected and they have not been able to appeal, contravening Ukraine's obligations under refugee law.

The Afghans claim that they were not provided with interpreters while claiming asylum, nor during the deportation procedure.

They also allege that they were required to sign documents in a language they do not understand, and that some were not present during the hearings on their cases.

"These people should not be deported until they have been given the right to appeal their asylum decision and effectively challenge their deportation, in line with Ukraine's domestic and international obligations," said Andrea Huber.

Amnesty International is also asking the Ukrainian authorities to ensure the detained men are given access to lawyers and the United Nations Refugee Agency, UNHCR.

Six other Afghans who were originally detained with the group have already been deported to Afghanistan in the last two days, including an unaccompanied minor.

Also allegedly subjected to abuses by guards, some of these detainees self-harmed in protest but were deported anyway.

Kyiv's police chief Yarema resigns

The head of the Interior Affairs Ministry's Main Department in Kyiv (the Kyiv Police Department), Vitali Yarema, has resigned, as a representative of the Kyiv Police Department has said.

According to the representative, Yarema signed a letter of resignation voluntarily and the letter has already been accepted.

The representative also said that Yarema thanked the Kyiv Police Department's officers for their work on Friday.

As earlier reported, Yarema became the head of the Kyiv Police Department in December 2007.

Russian police 'used drivers as human shield'

Russia has launched a criminal inquiry following claims that traffic police used civilian motorists as a "human shield" to stop suspected criminals.

Several drivers were reportedly ordered to use their cars to form a barrier on a major Moscow motorway last Friday.

A vehicle driven by the suspected robbers smashed through the blockade minutes later and kept going. No-one was hurt but several cars were damaged.

The traffic police commander in charge has already been sacked.

It is the latest in a series of reported incidents involving Russian police, who are seen by many Russians as corrupt and brutal.

Russia's investigative committee, under the prosecutor general's office, announced on Wednesday that a criminal investigation into the abuse of office by the traffic police was now under way.

It said it would investigate every single officer involved.

Moscow police chief Vladimir Kolokoltsev has already fired traffic police commander Alexander Kozlov, whose subordinates conducted the operation.

Stanislav Sutyagin says he was he was one of the civilian motorists used in the blockade.

In a video posted on YouTube, he said the police had not informed the drivers about what was going on, including the fact that the suspects were armed.

He says that just minutes later the robbers' car, a silver Audi, hit his Mercedes and a car of another motorist."We could have been killed. What if the criminals had stopped? We could have come under fire? Is it really the case that our lives are worthless in the Russian state?"

He added that the traffic police officers had parked their cars behind the civilian vehicles during the operation.

Police chief fired over journalist’s death

Tomsk's regional police chief was sacked on orders from President Dmitry Medvedev and a police officer was arrested after a local journalist was beaten to death in a detox center. Amid a nationwide crackdown on police brutality, Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev has suggested that alcohol detox centers may now be run by health officials rather than the police.

Konstatin Popov, 47, died Wednesday after spending two weeks in a coma. He was allegedly beaten and sexually abused in a Tomsk drunk tank, where he was taken on January 4 after neighbors complained he was making too much noise

Moscow Police Chief Blames Migrants for Crime

The economic crisis contributed to a growth in crimes committed by migrants but overall crime dropped sharply last year, Moscow police chief Vladimir Kolokoltsev said Wednesday.
The number of crimes committed by migrants rose by 7 percent to 54,600 cases, or 48.6 percent of the total number of solved crimes, Kolokoltsev said at a news conference, Interfax reported.
"Many people from other cities who had come to work in the capital at the moment when the crisis started found themselves without jobs," Kolokoltsev said, RIA-Novosti reported.
City police shut down more than 50 crime groups involving more than 160 people, including 63 Caucasus natives and 40 foreigners, he said.
Last year, Moscow saw a 36.2 percent decrease in the number of murders, a 76 percent decrease in the number of robberies, a 19.8 percent decrease in the number of violent robberies, a 7.9 decrease in the number of car thefts and a 4.4 decrease in the number of violent attacks, Kolokoltsev said.
The number of police officers charged with criminal offenses rose by about 50 percent, while the number of senior police officials disciplined for not following work procedures rose 20 percent, he said.
At the same time, the number of complaints from citizens about illegal actions by police "fell drastically in recent months," Kolokoltsev said, without providing any figures.
Police illegally failed to register 170 appeals from crime victims, but the figure was 18 percent lower than the previous year's, he said.
Kolokoltsev said citizens could complain to him directly on his personal web page at Petrovka-38.org, which opened in December.
A total of 62 attacks on people of "non-Slavic" appearance were registered in the city last year, including 26 murders and 25 cases of intentionally causing severe injuries, five of which ended in deaths, Kolokoltsev said.
Sova Center, a watchdog that tracks hate crimes, said 116 people were injured and 27 killed in racist attacks in Moscow and the Moscow region in the first 11 months of 2009, according to its web site.
City police and the Federal Security Service last year disbanded 10 racist groups with a total of 33 members who carried out 34 of the 62 attacks on people of "non-Slavic" appearance, including 14 murders, Kolokoltsev said.
President Dmitry Medvedev appointed Kolokoltsev as Moscow's police chief in September, filling a position vacated in April when he fired the previous chief in the wake of a supermarket shooting spree by a Moscow police officer that left two people dead. Kolokoltsev, a native of the Penza region, previously served as first deputy head of the Interior Ministry’s criminal police department

U.S. Owner of Siberian Pizza Chain Detained

A Novosibirsk court on Wednesday released on bail a U.S. businessman who has operated a chain of pizza restaurants in Siberia for more than a decade and is suspected of tax evasion, regional authorities said Wednesday. Eric Shogren, owner of the New York Pizza chain, is accused of failing to pay more than 9 million rubles ($263,900) in taxes, Novosibirsk regional police spokeswoman Tatyana Bukova told Interfax. Shogren is also being investigated in connection with other criminal cases, Bukova said, though she did not specify what the accusations in those cases entail. If charged and convicted of large-scale tax evasion, Shogren, a well-known figure in the foreign business community, could face up to seven years in prison. Shogren was detained Tuesday in connection with the tax evasion case, regional police spokesman Anton Surnin said by telephone. Novosibirsk's Leninsky District Court on Wednesday declined to place Shogren under arrest, releasing him on 1 million ruble ($29,500) bail on the condition that he not leave the city, regional court spokeswoman Marianna Glushkova told The Moscow Times. Investigators had asked the court to place Shogren in a pretrial detention facility, saying he was a flight risk. The director of Shogren's company Top Shelf, Yevgenia Golovkova, was released on 800,000 ruble ($23,000) bail, Glushkova said. Shogren remained in detention Wednesday and was to be released at 9 a.m. Thursday, his wife, Olga Shogren, said in a telephone interview from Novosibirsk. Shogren's company has about 50 million rubles ($1.5 million) in debt and fell behind on its taxes and payments to suppliers after it was unable to refinance its loans, his wife said, speaking in fluent English with an American accent. "Banks were already in crisis in May, and so they were calling back credit and weren't giving any more," she said. "That's when we acquired most of the debts." Employees and suppliers of New York Pizza picketed in Novosibirsk in February over delays in payments, Kommersant reported. In September, court marshals raided Shogren's restaurants, confiscating money from the registers to cover debts, Vedomosti reported. More than 90 complaints have been filed against New York Pizza in the Novosibirsk Regional Arbitration Court since last year, including by tax and pension authorities, according to the court's web site. The company hopes to pay off its debts, Olga Shogren said. "We're working on attracting investment groups and some investment capital, but it's very difficult," she said. Shogren is also being investigated on suspicion of fraud, Kommersant reported in March, citing police investigators. A native of Minneapolis, Shogren started up a joint car business with a Novosibirsk partner in the early 1990s. He moved to Novosibirsk a few years later and founded New York Pizza in 1996. The chain consists of 15 restaurants, according to its web site. The web site says Shogren also runs five other restaurants, a cinema and a bakery. It also says Shogren has set up a farm business called Siberian Frontier Farms, whose board includes James Collins, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia. Reached by telephone Wednesday at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, Collins said he had heard that Shogren had been detained. Collins said he was not familiar with the details of the case and declined to comment. He said, however, that he is "part of a board related to all [of Shogren's] businesses." The U.S. Embassy in Moscow said it could not comment on the case because of privacy laws. The Moscow Times interviewed Shogren in Novosibirsk in 2002. At that time, he said, New York Pizza was making several million dollars annually. Shogren has dual U.S. and Russian citizenship, his wife said.

Top Traffic Cop Defends Official Motorcades

Traffic jams near Kremlin are a daily headache for many Moscow motorists, who are forced to idle while police wave through motorcades for senior officials. But the country's top road safety official Friday defended the practice of blocking traffic to make way for officials, saying security concerns come first. "Of course, when we stop traffic even for a few minutes, we get huge traffic jams. But probably, the security of being accompanied by police is more important than this," Viktor Kiryanov, head of the Interior Ministry's road safety department, told the State Duma in a question-and-answer session Friday, Interfax reported. Kiryanov was responding to a complaint about traffic from a Communist deputy, Interfax said. Traffic jams are particularly severe on Kutuzovsky Prospekt, the thoroughfare that officials take to the city center from homes on the elite Rublyovskoye Shosse. Drivers are regularly forced to stop on side-streets as the officials' motorcades speed by. The road is jammed for an "hour or so" in the morning and for a "couple of hours" in the evening, said Leonid Olshansky, vice president of the Movement of Russian Motorists. The problem of roadblocks is most noticeable in Moscow because of the large number of government officials, Olshansky said. In fact, only around 15 people in Russia are entitled to this privilege, he said. "According to Russian law, we only block roads for a very small number of people: the president, the prime minister, the head of the constitutional court and so on," Olshansky said. Olshansky accused "unscrupulous traffic police officers" of taking bribes to block off traffic for individuals not entitled to such a service. A city traffic police officer came under fire earlier this week when Interfax reported that he failed to step in when armed robbers attacked two cash couriers Monday in central Moscow and allowed the criminals to escape in a car. Interfax quoted a traffic policeman as saying later: "We were providing support so that a VIP could drive past, and the officers didn't have time for a shooting." Moscow traffic police chief Sergei Kazantsev denied the report on Wednesday. No escorted motorcades drove past that day, Kazantsev told Moskovsky Komsomolets. "Our officer was the first to run to the crime scene, he correctly assessed the situation [and] radioed information on the criminals who escaped," Kazantsev was quoted as saying.

Police officer killed in southern Russia

ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia - One Russian police officer has been shot dead and another wounded in the restive southern region of Ingushetia, Interior Ministry officials said Monday.
An unidentified gunman shot a squadron commander with a sniper's rifle late Sunday in the city of Nazran, the regional Interior Ministry said. Another police officer was wounded Sunday after a police station was riddled with bullets fired from a passing car near the village of Yandare, it said.
The predominantly Muslim regions of Ingushetia and Dagestan see frequent attacks on police and other violence, some of it a spillover from neighboring Chechnya.