Putin's Russia
Russian ‘Facebook’ creator leaves country refusing to reveal names of Kiev supporters
Opposition leader Alexei Navalny talks to the media after leaving a justice court building in Moscow Reuters
By Helen Womack in Moscow - The Times
The founder of the Russian equivalent of Facebook has left the country because of pressure from the Kremlin’s security services to block dissident voices on his site.
Pavel Durov, 29, a St Petersburg graduate who set up VKontakte (in contact) as a Russian language alternative to Facebook, said that after his run-in with the FSB, the successor to the KGB, there was no way back for him.
“I can forget about returning (to Russia), especially after I publicly refused to cooperate with the law enforcement agencies,” he told the website Techcrunch. He did not reveal where he had gone.
Mr Durov was forced to resign the general directorship of the company he founded and to sell his shares after refusing to hand over the personal details of social networkers who expressed support for the protesters in Kiev, who brought about the downfall of Ukraine’s Moscow-friendly president Viktor Yanukovych, according to Echo of Moscow radio station.
Mr Durov also came under pressure to block an anti-corruption group that supported blogger Alexei Navalny, who is under house arrest and imminent threat of jail himself.
Mr Durov’s decision to leave Russia was reminiscent of the way Yevgeny Chichvarkin, the founder of Yevroset, Russia’s largest mobile phone retailer, was forced into exile. Mr Chichvarkin, who campaigned against corruption, now lives in London, where he runs a wine business.
Pressure on the domestic opposition in Russia is particularly acute at present because of the stand-off between the Kremlin and the West over Ukraine. Anyone who criticises President Putin’s policies risks being called a “traitor” and “fifth columnist” or worse.
Mr Navalny suffered a setback of his own today when he was found guilty of slandering a Moscow municipal councillor. The politician had accused Mr Navalny of breaking the terms of his house arrest, to which someone using Mr Navalny’s Twitter account tweeted back that the councillor was a “lawmaker-drug addict”.
Mr Navalny was fined 300,000 roubles (nearly £5,000) but worse, the extra conviction could mean that a five-year suspended jail sentence hanging over him is activated. It was handed down last year when he was convicted of “embezzling” timber.
He is currently under house arrest and is banned from using the internet. The punishment has suited the authorities well because it has restricted the Kremlin’s main critic while not attracting much publicity.
However, his situation may be about to change. On Thursday another case will open against him that he calls fabricated. He and his younger brother Oleg are accused of stealing money from the French cosmetics company Yves Rocher. The company itself says it has no issue with the Navalny brothers.
Mr Navalny’s spokeswoman, Anna Veduta, said she feared he could be transferred from his apartment to a pre-trial detention centre as early as tomorrow.
“All these court cases against him (Mr Navalny) are aimed entirely at depriving him of the possibility of speaking out on questions of vital importance to society,” Ms. Veduta said.
Opposition leader Alexei Navalny talks to the media after leaving a justice court building in Moscow Reuters
By Helen Womack in Moscow - The Times
The founder of the Russian equivalent of Facebook has left the country because of pressure from the Kremlin’s security services to block dissident voices on his site.
Pavel Durov, 29, a St Petersburg graduate who set up VKontakte (in contact) as a Russian language alternative to Facebook, said that after his run-in with the FSB, the successor to the KGB, there was no way back for him.
“I can forget about returning (to Russia), especially after I publicly refused to cooperate with the law enforcement agencies,” he told the website Techcrunch. He did not reveal where he had gone.
Mr Durov was forced to resign the general directorship of the company he founded and to sell his shares after refusing to hand over the personal details of social networkers who expressed support for the protesters in Kiev, who brought about the downfall of Ukraine’s Moscow-friendly president Viktor Yanukovych, according to Echo of Moscow radio station.
Mr Durov also came under pressure to block an anti-corruption group that supported blogger Alexei Navalny, who is under house arrest and imminent threat of jail himself.
Mr Durov’s decision to leave Russia was reminiscent of the way Yevgeny Chichvarkin, the founder of Yevroset, Russia’s largest mobile phone retailer, was forced into exile. Mr Chichvarkin, who campaigned against corruption, now lives in London, where he runs a wine business.
Pressure on the domestic opposition in Russia is particularly acute at present because of the stand-off between the Kremlin and the West over Ukraine. Anyone who criticises President Putin’s policies risks being called a “traitor” and “fifth columnist” or worse.
Mr Navalny suffered a setback of his own today when he was found guilty of slandering a Moscow municipal councillor. The politician had accused Mr Navalny of breaking the terms of his house arrest, to which someone using Mr Navalny’s Twitter account tweeted back that the councillor was a “lawmaker-drug addict”.
Mr Navalny was fined 300,000 roubles (nearly £5,000) but worse, the extra conviction could mean that a five-year suspended jail sentence hanging over him is activated. It was handed down last year when he was convicted of “embezzling” timber.
He is currently under house arrest and is banned from using the internet. The punishment has suited the authorities well because it has restricted the Kremlin’s main critic while not attracting much publicity.
However, his situation may be about to change. On Thursday another case will open against him that he calls fabricated. He and his younger brother Oleg are accused of stealing money from the French cosmetics company Yves Rocher. The company itself says it has no issue with the Navalny brothers.
Mr Navalny’s spokeswoman, Anna Veduta, said she feared he could be transferred from his apartment to a pre-trial detention centre as early as tomorrow.
“All these court cases against him (Mr Navalny) are aimed entirely at depriving him of the possibility of speaking out on questions of vital importance to society,” Ms. Veduta said.
