Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Friday, April 08, 2016

Putin Says Panama Papers Leaks Are Attempt To Destabilize Russia

ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said a friend of his named in the “Panama Papers” leaks had done nothing wrong and spent the money he earned from business on buying expensive musical instruments which he was donating to public institutions.

Media reports based on the leaked documents from a Panama-based law firm alleged that Sergei Roldugin, a cellist and friend of Putin, had quietly built up a sprawling business empire involved in offshore transactions that might be linked to the Russian leader.

Speaking to supporters in St Petersburg, Putin said the leaks were part of an orchestrated attempt to destabilize Russia by fabricating allegations of corruption.

“Our opponents are above all concerned by the unity and consolidation of the Russian nation. They are attempting to rock us from within, to make us more pliant,” said Putin, in his first public comments on the leaks.

“There is a certain friend of the president of Russia, he did such and such a thing, and there is probably a corruption element there,” Putin said, describing the allegations.

“But there isn’t any (element of corruption).”

Putin said Roldugin was a brilliant musician and a minority shareholder in a Russian company from which he earned some money but not “billions of dollars.”

He said Roldugin had spent almost all the money he had made from the venture on acquiring expensive musical instruments abroad which he was in the process of handing over to state institutions.

“I am proud to have such friends,” said Putin.

The papers, which included more than 11.5 million documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, were leaked to the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. They then became part of a broader investigation coordinated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

The files, which contained the details of clients around the world, prompted Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, the prime minister of Iceland, to quit, put British Prime Minister David Cameron under pressure over his family’s financial affairs, and sparked calls in Ukraine to investigate President Petro Poroshenko.

But in Russia, where state media closely hews to the Kremlin’s line, the allegations have either been played down or portrayed as part of an attempt to undermine the ruling elite before parliamentary elections later this year.

Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, has dismissed the allegations as the result of “Putinophobia” and said that the journalistic consortium behind the Panama Papers included “many former state department and CIA employees, as well as those of other intelligence services”.

Original Article
Source: huffingtonpost.com/
Author: Vladimir Soldatkin

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