Limonov vs. Putin Page 16

  On the night of September 15th Shamil Basayev sent a declaration letter about the tragedy in Beslan on the Internet site Caucasus-Center. Shamil Basayev wants the Chechen side to look more honorable. And still it makes sense to listen to his voice, judging this tragedy, the more so that he makes the impression of a person who can allow himself not to lie. Among other things, here is what Basayev said: “A terrible tragedy happened in Beslan: the Kremlin’s vampire destroyed and wounded a thousand of children and adults, by giving the order to raid the school, for the sake of his imperial ambitions and the preservation of his seat.” “We affirm that Russia’s special services have raided the school, that the raid was planned from the beginning and here are some facts: the demands of the mujahideen were clear and precise: – We demand the immediate ceasing of the war in Chechnya and the beginning of the withdrawal of troops. – If Putin doesn’t want peace we demand Putin`s immediate discharge from the post of RF president.”

  Then Basayev presents the Chechen view on the events, he presents the Chechen truth, contesting Kremlin`s official version. He affirms:

  – The mujahideen did not demand to release anybody from prison.

  – The (supposedly) “empty” tape contained an address of the hostages to Putin.

  – They distanced the relatives of the hostages by making up a night firing.

  – The old KGB agent Roshal cheated and calmed the relatives by telling them that the children will stay alive 8-9 days without water and food.

  – They have chosen the time of the prayer for the beginning of the raid – 1 o’clock PM.

  – The mujahideen committed a fatal error by letting the vehicle of the “Ministry of emergencies” FSB, which contained God know what, to the building.

  – The employees of the Ministry of emergencies shouted “Run out!” to the hostages and the explosions occurred right after this.

  – They fired at the school in order to cover the employees of the Ministry of emergencies and after the explosion two of our mujahideen who came out to them were killed.

  – The helicopters with snipers appeared instantly.

  – It’s bullshit that Alpha and Vimpel weren’t ready, that “they even didn’t have the time to assign the firing sectors and the firing points.” Although the politicians have turned them into butchers they are still honorable professionals.

  – The apology for a Prosecutor General Ustinov told Putin that the mujahideen changed the chain and that caused an accidental explosion. Even the sorriest of idiots will not change the chain during an operation, especially at the moment when an enemy vehicle is approaching the building.

  – There is almost no splinters on the walls of the gymnasium while there are over 30 thousand splinters in a mine. (Then Basayev professionally calculates the number of splinters in each mine: “Eight regular army “frog” mines, 2700 splinters in each; ten self-made mines, 1000 splinters in each and two self-made MON-1000 from saltpeter, 1000 splinters in each.”)

  – The basketball rings in which the big mines were are intact.

  – The auto-detonation is excluded – otherwise all the 20 mines linked together in a single chain would have exploded simultaneously; while four non exploded mines were shown… it would have been all or none.

  I will stop here to note that I am forced, and you with me, to search for pieces of truth among those who are fighting against us, looking for independence for their country. It is outrageous that we, Russia’s citizens are the object of the lies of Russia’s president and its government. In his letter, Basayev also cites his personal message to Putin, which Basayev gave through Aushev and Dzasokhov. It is vitally important to know what did the suicide bombers, the 33 Chechen wreckers who captured the school in Beslan, want. Listen to this message. It has a proud independent style: “From Allah’s slave Shamil Abu-Idris to the RF president V. V. Putin. Vladimir Putin, you didn’t start this war, but you can stop it if you have enough of De Gaulle’s courage and resoluteness. We offer you a wise peace on a mutually beneficial base according to the principle: ‘Independence in exchange for security.’ In the case of the withdrawal of troops and the recognition of the Chechen republic’s independence, we pledge:

  – not to conclude any political, military or economical alliances with anybody against Russia;

  – not to dislocate foreign military bases leading armed fight against the Russian Federation on our territory;

  – not to support or finance groups or organizations leading an armed fight against the Russian federation;

  – join the CIS;

  – stay in the same ruble zone.

  – Besides, we can sign the Collective Security Treaty, although we would prefer the status of a neutral State.

  – Also we can guarantee the refusal of all Russian Muslims from armed fight methods against the RF, minimally for 10-15 years, on the condition that freedom of religion is respected, which, by the way, is fixed in the RF Constitution;

  – We have no relation to the bombing in Moscow and Volgodonsk, but, for the sake of the cause, we can take the blame in an acceptable form.

  The Chechen people is leading a national-liberation war for its freedom and independence, for it self-preservation and not for destroying Russia or humiliate it. When we are free we will be interested in a strong neighbor.

  We are acting by methods and means to which you force us and we will not hesitate before anything in order to stop the genocide of the Chechen people. We propose you peace and the choice is yours. Allah akbar. 08.30.04.”

  The little president has made his choice. He gave the order to lie, to raid a building full of children, presenting the thing as if the Chechens started the fire. Did the president commit a crime?

  It looks very much like a crime. And what will he do, for instance, when the terrorists, whose families, let us say, were massacred in the mountains of North Caucasus by the presidential army, seize a nuclear plant in Central Russia? Judging by his previous deeds, the president will give the order to raid. And you will all die, comrades commoners, including those who wanted to hear a supposedly confident talk on the televisions screens.

  On a meeting with president Putin in the Kremlin a year after the terrorist act, on September 2nd 2005, the head of the Committee of Beslan`s Mothers, Susanna Dudieva said: “This conversation was very difficult for us. You imagine what kind of emotions are overflowing us and what I feel, what these women and the people who stayed home, whose children were killed feel and you bear the blame for that as head of State. All Beslan thinks you are responsible. Because when people ask why he didn’t come they unanimously say that Vladimir Putin is responsible.”

  Putin: “I don’t decline all responsibility.”

  In other words this man knows that he is guilty of the massacre of children.

  THE ROBBING OF THE PEOPLE

  The National-Bolsheviks who came to the reception room of the president’s administration and demanded to see president Putin had the following claim at the third place in their leaflet: “The robbing of the people through the monetization of the benefits.” “Only naпve people believe the tale about the evildoers Zurabov and Gref who got out of hand”, the nazbols wrote, “We know that nothing in the Russian Federation is made without your consent. With today’s oil prices the benefits could have easily been doubled and tripled instead of being cancelled.”

  On my table I have a thick pile of papers written in a small, rather extremely small font, about two hundred pages. The title alone is so long, so purposely complex, that if you don’t know that this is the infamous law Number 122, you will not realize that this is about the monetisation of benefits. Here is how the title, put in bold font, sounds:

  “The Federal Law of August 22nd 2004. Number 122-F3. ‘About the amendment of the legislative acts of the Russian Federation and the recognition of some legislative acts of the Russian federation as obsolete in relation to the adoption of the Federal Laws ‘About the amendment of the Federal Law ‘About the general princ
iples of organization of the legislative (representative) and executive bodies of State power of the Russian federation subjects’ and ‘About the general principles of organization of the local self-government in the Russian Federation’ (with amendments on November 29th and December 21st, 29th and 30th 2004). Adopted by the State Duma on August 5th 2004. Approved by the federation Council on August 8th 2004.”

  Then follows a disgustingly false preamble, so false that the famous Ministry of Truth from George Orwell’s novel “1984” comes to mind. Here is this masterpiece of Jesuit mockery, the preamble:

  “The present Federal Law is adopted in order to protect the rights and freedoms of the Russian federation’s citizens on the base of a delimitation of functions between the federal bodies of State power of the Russian federation subjects. …

  In the present Federal Law are also solved the missions of guaranteeing the constitutional principle of the equality of human and civil rights and freedoms, raising the material well-being of the citizens, guaranteeing the State’s economical security and bringing the system of the social protection of the citizens who use benefits and social guarantees and those who receive compensations, in conformity with the principle of delimitation of functions between the federal bodies of the State power, the bodies of the State power of the Russian Federation’s subjects and the bodies of local self-government, and also the principles of a State of Law with a socially oriented market economy.

  During the transfer to a system of the citizens` social protection, based on the provisions of the present federal Law, the Russian federation subjects and the municipal formations must:

  During the replacement of the benefits in kind by monetary compensations, introduce efficient legal mechanisms that guarantee the conservation and the possible augmentation of the level of social protection of the citizens, taking in account the specifics of their legal and property-related situation as well as other circumstances;

  Realize the principle of support of the citizens` faith in the law and the actions of the State by way of keeping the stability of the legal regulation;

  Present the citizens with the possibility, during a reasonable transition period, to adapt to the modifications brought into the legislation, in particular by means of establishing a temporary regulation of public relations;

  Not to allow violations of the rights and freedoms of other individuals during the realization of the social rights and freedoms of the citizens.

  The norms of the present federal law must be realized in accordance with the provisions fixed in the present preamble and cannot be used for the derogation of the human and civil rights and lawful interests.” Period.

  This radiantly false preamble is followed by one hundred and fifty six articles of Number F3 122 that exactly oppose the good intentions expressed in the preamble. In other words that dramatically diminish the well being of the RF citizens. That diminish the level of the citizens’ social protection tragically, to zero; that trample the human and civil rights and lawful interests to the ground. The following humbly stands at the very end of this unbridled mockery: President of the Russian federation V. Putin, Moscow, Kremlin, August 22nd 2004, Number 122 F3.

  What are these 156 articles about? They concern many aspects of the lives of various groups of citizens as well as such things as, for instance, the social support of children-orphans, the State support of cinematography, the ecology of Lake Baikal, the amendments in the law about the veterans, the law about the disabled people, amendments in the law “About fire security”, the law about the federal military courier, and hundreds of other things. In other words the law Number 122 is a real encyclopedia of Russian life. It is also a gloomy song of grief for those concerned by the law Number 122; and it concerns the overwhelming majority of Russian citizens. I am not writing a separate book about this refined sadist work; therefore I have to limit myself to certain observations. The most frequently encountered provisions in all 156 articles of the law are “to exclude the word ‘free’ ”, as well as “declare part such-and-such as obsolete”. Number F3 122 begins with Article one, which brings amendments to the RF Law of April 18th 1991 Number 1026-1 “About the police”. Thus, in order to understand Article one about the amendments in the Law “About the police”, a police officer will have to have before him the text of the law Number 1026-1 as well, otherwise he will not realize that he is being forced to pay what was once free and that many benefits are simply taken away from him by this laconic “declare as obsolete”. But he will not understand what he is being taken away. For instance the police officers are among other hings deprived of free use of public transport.

  The fact that the first blow was made to the police, those who are called to protect the existing State order demonstrates the serene foolishness of those who siege in the Kremlin and in the White House. I doubt that they would have deprived their own security guards of benefits because they would get upset and turn on the people’s side in a critical situation. But apparently these gentlemen have faith in their inviolable divine nature and are not afraid.

  Here it should be said that the little word “benefits” does not exactly, or even does not at all exactly, defines the nature of the rights that are being taken away from the RF citizens (because they were not taken away yet, the people got upset, got mad and came out on the streets with the help of the nazbols and communists). For a pensioner, for a handicapped person, for a police officer, for a veteran, the right to free use of public transport was only the realization not in the form of money of a part of his pension or his salary. Because the pension of the majority of citizens is so small that even by adding the real cost of public transport rides of a single citizen who used the benefits, we still get a meager amount. Therefore “benefits” did not mean “privileges” at all; it was a part of a salary, but expressed in kind, not in money. It seemed to the Kremlin who was reorganizing the society and the State according to the standards of, as they put it, “market economy”, that the time has come to put an end to the benefits, to these vestiges (as the Kremlin thinks) of the socialist system. And that the people are obedient enough; that they will accept it. If instead of the benefits the citizens would have been proposed a real compensation, more precisely, the cost of all the tickets that a citizen veteran, handicapped, pensioner, policeman, Chernobyl victim can use in a month and maybe even with a reserve for the inflation, then possibly nobody would have protested. But the greedy government, the pitiless developers Zurabov and Gref in over-expensive European suits (it is striking but both are extremely fashionable and thoroughly dressed individuals) have planned shabby compensations that do not cover 10% of the possible cost of public transport tickets. For convenience I am speaking here about public transport, preferring to narrow down the amount. Therefore the law Number 122 has caused a storm of emotions in the people and outrage unheard of in the usually submissive Russia. The power’s real criterion of benignancy or malignancy is its attitude towards the people. Does the power treat the popular masses as equals or does it treat them like weak and silly, whose interests can be overlooked? There is no doubt that these Putin’s guys in expensive suits and ties treat the popular masses with haughty scorn and fastidiousness. The law Number 122 is a detailed proof of it. It can be certainly used as evidence in court. After Gaydar’s shock therapy, law Number 122 is the second national tragedy and I am not exaggerating, I weight my words. A responsible power cannot allow a brutal fall in the standard of living of the majority of the population because the main tasks of any State power in the modern world is guaranteeing the citizens’ well-being and security. Shakespearian kings or the tyrant Peter I could have followed other, personal goals on the border of the XVII and XVIII centuries. Today, similar violence, let us say, the implantation of certain reforms that Zurabov and Putin judge necessary, are taboo for a responsible power. But the problem is that Putin’s group is irresponsible. And archaic. Despite their fashionable suits, their work methods make them people with an autocratic conscience. I
n the third volume of its “Politics” Aristotle has dedicated a short paragraph to the form of government that he called “paternalist”, in which the king governs his State in the same way in which a father governs his family. This form of government existed in Europe’s absolutist monarchies, but was gradually relegated to history’s archives, replaced by republican regimes or, if they were monarchist regimes, the power of the father-sovereign was brought to naught by the rights of the parliaments. In Russia the paternalist form of government lasted until 1917, but even after that the Bolsheviks, in the end, turned after a short period of revolutionary unruliness, again to paternalism with the mustached harsh father Stalin in its head. Putin and his people, whether they wear silk ties or service caps, are governing Russia in the former paternalist spirit. The tsars were as usual cruel fathers, beating up those who did not obey them. Stalin was like this. And Putin’s people are like this. They would not even think to ask the people if, for example, they want reforms or the law Number 122. After all, who asks little children? Cut back on their ration and that’s all. Like Aristotle said. Let them suffer a bit.

  The National-Bolsheviks watched the preparation of the law Number 122. We received documents from the friendly State Duma deputy Viktor Alksnis back in spring 2004. We knew what was coming. When on July 2nd the State Duma was adopting law Number 122 in the first reading, the National-Bolsheviks managed to get inside the State Duma on the balcony for the journalists and spread leaflets in the hall, protesting against the law. At the same time another group of nazbols got on top of the Moscow Hotel and unfolded a banner: “The cancellation of benefits is a crime before the people!” It was not easy to do all that because the authorities were expecting protest actions and it was almost impossible to get inside the State Duma these days. On August 2nd 2004, before the adoption of law Number 122 was declared in the State Duma after the second reading, a group of 50 National-Bolsheviks peacefully arrived to the Health Ministry and “captured” some offices, including the office of the principal author of the Law about the monetization of benefits – the minister Zurabov. The National-Bolsheviks hung out flags, opened windows and the president’s portrait, removed from the wall, was thrown out (it was caught while it was falling by dozens of journalists’ lenses and got not only in the Russian, but also in the international press). The National-Bolsheviks held about two hours in the ministry besieged by “the forces of order”. During their arrest they were all brutally beaten. Subsequently on December 20th 2004 Moscow’s Tverskoy court sentenced the National-Bolsheviks Maxim Gromov, Anatoly Globa-Mikhailenko, Grigory Tishin, Sergey Ezhov, Anatoly Korshunski, Oleg Bespalov and Kirill Klenov, each to five years of detention. A bit later Moscow’s Municipal court reduced their sentences to 3 and 2,5 years. I will talk about the process of the seven National-Bolsheviks in the chapter “Resumption of political repressions in Russia”, here I only want to emphasize that the National-Bolsheviks stood up for popular interests. They stood up before the society could even grasp all the unjust and anti-popular nature of the Law about the monetization of benefits.