The former mayor of Archangelsk Alexander Donskoi got at large in the beginning of March. He is a curious character in all senses. He was a businessman before becoming a mayor and we all remember what the provincial middle-size merchants were in the early 90’s. Anyway, he enjoyed people’s liking in the city who considered him to be one of them. However, the first thing to be done by the new mayor was quarreling with the governor. As it usually happens among politicians, the quarrel was because of money. Due to that conflict, Mr. Donskoi was accused of committing a bunch of crimes and found himself in the pre-trial prison where he spent 8 months and the final court proceeding put him on three years on parole. Actually, he was lucky as by the moment of the trial the governor himself had fallen in disgrace and lost his position. So the court decided to show a humane approach considering the actual disappearance of one of the sides of the conflict.  

Going to have an interview with Mr. Donskoi, I had no wish to discuss the local matters or to hear what a bad man the former governor Kiselev is. I just wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk.

Q: Hello, Alexander Viktorovich. How was it in prison?

A: Like anyone in such situation I saw the seamy side of life where the man has absolutely no rights ant that was hard to feel.  

I attempted to attract attention so that to survive and get saved. And the major part of people just waits, tries to bear it and accumulates the hatred.

Q: Towards whom?

A: Cops, prosecutors, judges, prison warders.

Q: Did you accumulate hatred too? 

A: Yes, I did.

Q: What are the warders to be blamed for? They were just told to guard you and so they did.

A: They are just swines. The law requires them to secure safety for the inmates. The pre-trial prison is meant for people whose guilt is not proved yet, but the treatment there is even worse than that in the penal colonies. The prison conditions are just terrible and there is the lack of necessary things.

The Archangelsk pre-trial prison has pigsty for 100 head. Of course, it is served by the inmates. The meat goes to the best restaurants of the town. The administration gets money for that, while the inmates are fed with the slops, exactly like the pigs.

Before the trial no one can be sure that people in the pre-trial prison are perpetrators. And any inmate knows perfectly that the law is nothing for the warders. For example, according to the law it is prohibited to put under-age offenders together with the adults, but this rule is not observed in real practice.   

And the judges are no better. They have no attitude to make verdicts of non-guilty. My lawyers told me about it. When a criminal case is started, the person must be sentenced. If the person manages to prove he/she was detained unlawfully, then he/she might require for compensation. No one wants to have this risk. So it turns out that if a person gets to pre-trial prison, there’s no chance of getting released without any punishment. There has been no verdict of non-guilty during my stay there.     

Q: Well, you know, there has always been the lack of justice with us.

A: You know, the rules of the underworld, observed in prison, are anyway better than what we call the law and the order. Most inmates try to observe those rules, avoiding conflicts among themselves and even trying not to humiliate those abused. And also according to the rules, one must not get in conflicts with the prison staff.

Q: Were you afraid of getting the real sentence and being placed in the penal colony?

A: Yes, I was. I experienced the real fear. At some moment I realized it was driving me mad. 

Q: But you were not an ordinary inmate, you were a political prisoner, that’s different. 

A: Yes, I consider myself to have been a political prisoner as I was actually sentenced for my wish to run for presidency. Now I’m prohibited to fill any official positions during next two years. I’m sure they would make something else after two years. I and my son and wife, we are being constantly watched. So I’m not a “political corpse”, but a political invalid, that’s true.

Q: Are you going to get engaged in politics?

A: There is no politics in the country. For example, in the city of Naryan-Mar (that’s the capital of Nenets Autonomous Territory) the communists got a good outcome at the last election. And suddenly the mayor of the town, Communist party member Leonid Sablin resigns right after the election. Do I have to explain why he did it? 

I don’t like the nature of Center-Regions relations. There is a saying “If the rape is inevitable, just relax and try to enjoy it”. The governors are appointed, while the mayors are elected. This is the bad situation where the conflict is just built into. This is a pure provocation from the federals’ side. The existing system is living in accordance with the criminal rules, not the law. After getting elect any mayor has to go cap in hand to the governor asking him only one question “what will be the rules I have to obey?” 

I want to see the real vertical of power. I want to see it work. And now all the responsibility is possible to be shifted to the mayor by the governor. No thanks. Either mayor’s must be appointed too or the governors must be elected. By the way, when election of governors was cancelled it was declared to be a temporary measure.  

Q: With such ideas you are just meant to go to opposition, and the status of the political prisoner would lend you more respect.

A: I never wanted to become an oppositionist. That’s all seems senseless to me. There is no real hero among the oppositionists and those dissented. I don’t see a man who could struggle in the perspective of eight years for presidency and win in that struggle.  

Q: A new mayor will be elected in Archangelsk in May. Are you going to give your support to anyone?

A: I don’t want it. The candidates will be mainly the representatives of the financial-industrial groups who see this post as an opportunity to get preferences for their business. And no one else would be able to run. Winning the election in Archangelsk costs 3 million dollars. One of the candidates told me he is ready to pay 6-7 millions. It’s clear that the invested money must return. So even before the election the candidate concludes “futures” contracts for the state and municipal contracts. The kickback for the amounts allotted to the regions is 5-20%. 

Just for comparison, the mayor of the German town Emdon, sister city of Archangelsk, had only one thousand euros before his election. So the level of corruption is respective there. I failed to explain to him why we must spend millions on getting elected here. 

Q: And can you explain it to me?

A: It’s because our authorities consider a million dollars as a unit of measurement. When you speak about a less amount they just don’t understand you. It’s like an ordinary man who cannot operate with amounts less than one ruble. So the money goes to United Russia (about a million) and to the president’s administration (million and over). And only then you do your spending on the election campaign itself. And the fact of giving money to the above mentioned bodies does not guarantee you will be elected. There is also internal selection process there.

Novaya Gazeta information

Alexander Donskoi was elected to be the mayor in 2004. After he proposed his candidature for the presidency in 2007, he got to have 4 criminal cases started against him. 

The prosecution charged Mr. Donskoi with abuse of office (guarding the members of his family) at the public expense, with falsification of the diploma and entering another higher education institution with that diploma, and with illegal enterprise: allegedly, he gave permission for construction without a state expertise made. 

Mr. Donskoi was put in the pre-trial prison in August 2007. The court sentenced him to three years on parole and he was prohibited to fill the public posts, including elective ones, for next two years. On 6 March he was released right after the reading in the courtroom of the Oktyabrsky court.