© Photo REUTERS/Petar KujundzicWikileaks accuses Russia of running a 'Mafia state'
by Tom Washington at 02/12/2010 12:19
The shock waves of the Wikileaks scandal have lapped against the walls of the Kremlin – with the controversial web site exposing international concern over Russia’s “Mafia state”.
But in Russia's corridors of power these allegations are regarded as nothing more than the latest round of an information war covertly promoted by the US authorities.
Material published in Britain’s Guardian newspaper today alleges that Russia’s rulers preside over a criminal web.
And gangsters who get onside are rewarded with parliamentary posts and immunity from prosecution, US officials have claimed in internal memos.
“Everything depends on the Kremlin … [former Moscow mayor Yury] Luzhkov, as well as many mayors and governors, pay off key insiders in the Kremlin,” John Beyrle, US ambassador to Russia cited one source as saying, the Guardian reported.
Russia is described as “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’.”
Power vertical
The allegations surfaced at the weekend, but more details emerged overnight, showing how the Kremlin is regarded as the prime beneficiary of the embedded systems of bribes, protection money and suspect contracts.
The next level down is an extensive layer of officials, who collect bribe money as a kind of parallel taxation system. On the next tier are the FSB (successors to the KGB), the interior ministry and police, who collect protection money from businesses, the accusations allege.
“Criminal elements enjoy a ‘krysha’ (a protective roof) that runs through the police, the federal security service, ministry of internal affairs (MVD) and the prosecutor’s office, as well as throughout the Moscow city government bureaucracy,” Beyrle said. “The Moscow city government’s direct links to criminality have led some to call it ‘dysfunctional’ and to assert that the government operates more as a kleptocracy than a government.”
However, his comments suggest some confusion since the police and the MVD are part of the same organisation.
Dirty work
The root of the allegations against the Russian system is Jose Gonzalez, a Spanish prosecutor, who has spent more than a decade looking into the influence of Russian organised crime in Spain and gave a briefing to US officials in January.
He slammed Russia as a “virtual mafia state” in which “one cannot differentiate between the activities of the government and [Organised Crime] groups,” the Guardian reported.
Through information gleaned through wiretaps he claimed he had evidence that certain political parties worked hand in hand with mafia groups. Newsru.com specifies the Liberal Democratic Party, though the Guardian did not name any group. Gonzalez alleges gun running to Turkey to destabilise the country, and carrying missiles for Iran.
Attitudes exposed
Commentators have suggested that Wikileaks have not yet produced any striking allegations.
But another British newspaper, the Independent, pointed out that the news highlights a strongly critical and sceptical attitude towards Moscow in the US.
Russia’s response to the leaks so far has been largely dismissive, though Putin told CNN’s Larry King that he felt the “Batman and Robin” jibes thrown at him and President Dmitry Medvedev were “arrogant”.
In an interview with Larry King on Wednesday Putin played down the impact of the leaks, and went on to suggest that they might be fakes which had been deliberately released by the US for political purposes.
“Some experts believe that somebody is deceiving WikiLeaks, that their reputation is being undermined to use them for their own political purposes later on,” he said. “That is one of the possibilities there. That is the opinion of the experts.”
Assange under fire
Allegations have also made their way back to the whistleblower itself. Wikeleaks founder Julian Assange is being hunted for a rape committed in Sweden, Interpol announced on Wednesday.
British police say they know where he is in London, after the 39-year-old Australian gave them contact details when he arrived in the UK in October, but are waiting for further instructions before arresting him.
The delay is said to be a technical one, with sources suggesting Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) needed clarifications about the Swedish issued arrest warrant issued by Sweden.
The European Arrest Warrant he is wanted under is supposed to be a fast-track system for arresting suspects within the EU, the Independent reported.
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