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02/10/2004: Fraud & Conspiracy Fraud & Conspiracy

Follow- Up to Russian Political Mystery Deepens
from Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty

The following is a description of the Liberal Russia Party from the Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty Website. This mystery indeed deepens...

New Course-Automotive Russia (Liberal Russia faction of Viktor Pokhmelkin and the Republican Party of Boris Fedorov)

[Ed. Note: soon after santo26 posted this reference to the website pokhmelkin.ru, it became "unavailable."-prof]

Federal Party List: Viktor Pokhmelkin, Boris Fedorov, Leonid Olshanskii, Bela Denisenko, Oleg Gladkikh, Boris Zamai, Nail Irtuganov, Aleksandr Lebedev, Yulii Nisnevich, Igor Surikov
(see complete list)

The beleaguered Liberal Russia party, which split into two factions following the 9 October 2002 expulsion of its main funder and co-Chairman Boris Berezovskii, on 7 September decided to form an electoral bloc with former Finance Minister Boris Fedorov's Republican Party and Leonid Olshanksii's Movement of Drivers of Russia to contest the 7 December State Duma elections. That bloc is called New Course-Automotive Russia.

Liberal Russia was born in late 2001 after Duma deputies Sergei Yushenkov, Vladimir Golovev, and Yulii Ryabov left the Union of Rightist Forces (SPS) because of "ideological differences with party leader Boris Nemtsov." Shortly thereafter, Berezovskii offered to finance the new party and was made a co-chairman at its congress on 22 December 2001. On 12 June 2002, the Justice Ministry refused to register the party, citing irregularities in its charter. Analysts, however, suspected that the government opposed Berezovskii's involvement.

On 21 August 2002, party co-Chairman Vladimir Golovev, who had been under investigation for alleged financial irregularities for some time, was murdered in Moscow. The party distributed statements alleging that he was killed because of his vocal criticism of President Vladimir Putin.

On 4 October 2002, co-Chairman Sergei Yushenkov announced that Liberal Russia was severing all ties with Berezovskii. The same day, party officials received information that the Justice Ministry would register it. On 9 October 2002, the party officially expelled Berezovskii, and on 17 October 2002 the Justice Ministry registered the party.

On 7 December 2002, a rival faction of Liberal Russia held a congress in St. Petersburg at which is confirmed Berezovskii as party leader and expelled Yushenkov, Pokhmelkin and Boris Zolotukhin.

On 17 April 2003, Yushenkov was murdered in Moscow, just hours after he announced that the Justice Ministry had concluded the registration of his faction of the party for participation in the 7 December elections. Later, a party leader associated with Berezovskii was arrested on suspicion of ordering the killing.

On 7 July 2003, the pro-Berezovskii faction of the party selected former Security Council Secretary Ivan Rybkin as leader of the party.

The New Course-Automotive Russia bloc has adopted a platform that criticizes the country's "bureaucratic-oligarchic regime," which it blames for hindering economic growth, increasing the stratification of society, fostering mass poverty, facilitating corruption, and weakening the country's international position. It campaign slogan is "A government for the people, not the people for the government." The bloc has also pledged to defend automobile drivers as representatives of the middle class.