Convinced that “the level of corruption in Moscow has exceeded all limits” and possibly possessing evidence to that effect, the investigative department of the Russian Ministry of the Interior has declared that, if the ex-mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov and his wife Yelena Baturina fail to come to Moscow for interrogation, measures envisaged by the Criminal Procedure Code may be taken against them. In other words, they would be brought to interrogation by force, unless, of course, some urgent business keeps the couple abroad.

All the political powers are exploiting nationalism, and the Communists have come along for the ride. They are the latest to have their say on whether to indicate nationality in Russian passports. This autumn and winter, kokoshniks and kosovorotniks along with xenophobia toward the Caucasus and anti-Semitism are all in style. The elections are upon us, and each political power has its own “Russian march"...

The FPS is one of the chief instruments in isolating the countries top-ranking authorities. They have a special communications system, a garage of special cars with their masters’ pre-emptive right to the right of way and to blocking off traffic. They also have their own “secret” social services and real estate...

On 23 October it was nine years to the day of the Dubrovka terrorist attack. To be more exact, on Sunday evening it was nine years ago when the terrorists took more than 900 audience members and actors from Nord-Ost, Russia’s first musical, hostage...

“I was waiting at the stop of the foreman who was supposed to give me my pay”, says Rashid Razzakov. “Three guys dressed in regular clothing jumped me, and without explaining anything, twisted my arms behind my back, cuffed me and forced me into a black Audi. Only when we arrived did I realise that I had been taken to the police...”

News about weekly explosions, special-forces raids and assassination attempts engender a completely new financial environment in the investigation business. So it isn’t a bit surprising that in one of Russia’s most corrupt regions the most popular article of the Criminal Code has to do with extremism...

Russia wants to unite with Belarus. In preparing for this reputable event, President Aleksandr Lukashenko has enforced laws that make the special services a special caste with the right to kill and torture. This is what we are being offered to unite with...

But now, with Tymoshenko cornered, the likelihood that a political bomb will go off in Manhattan has gone up drastically. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich and his allies cannot but take into account this possibility, which is why they are taking several muddled steps to decriminalise the articles in the criminal code that are being used to charge Tymoshenko...

By about one in the afternoon in Kiev, Judge Kireyev’s sped up his already quite fast gibberish and started talking nineteen to the dozen: “…Taking into account the aforementioned… The defendant has not shown remorse… To be sentenced to seven years in accordance with article 365 of Part 3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine… Detain… Lay financial damages in the amount of… In accordance with the law, the verdict is subject to appeal with the Appellate Court...”

Read Olga Musafirova

At one of Khodorkovsky’s last meetings with journalists, I asked what Khodorkovsky was hoping for and to whom he would turn as a last resort, since he was obviously in danger of being the next to go down. Honestly, I figured he would say Voloshin. But after a pause, Khodorkovsky quietly said, “Abramovich, probably”

Дальше был домашний арест, который оказался вовсе не похож на свободу. В первую же ночь один из двух конвоиров поставил в спальне Некляева и его жены стул.

— Я ему говорю: как мы можем спать, когда вы тут сидите? «А я поставлен государством, чтобы не давать вам, преступникам, спокойно спать», — ответил тот.

Read Elena Racheva. Essay

I met this tall, think young man with black hair around 15 years ago. At that time he was, I think 25 years old and had graduated from Moscow State University and Harvard. It is difficult to have a real talent not catch your eye. Some time later, Vasily Aleksanyan became the head of legal department at YUKOS, the Russia’s second largest, and then largest, oil company...

Vasily Aleksanyan, one of the most well-known prisoners in the Yukos case who refused to give false testimony, even if it would have saved his life.

Novaya Gazeta names the prosecutors and investigators, Judges and Jail keepers who have played a part in prosecuting Vasily Aleksanyan while knowing about his fatal illnesses...

You are wifes and mothers as well. And I am asking you to persuade your husband to take all possible measures and use all instruments to prevent physical elimination of my husband Andrei Sannikov and demand that dictator Lukashenka to release him and other political prisoners out of prisons...

Irina Khalip has written the very same type of letters to the wifes of the French, US and Polish presidents and the British Prime Minister. Novaya Gazeta’s editorial board decided to publish Irina’s letter to Svetlana Medvedeva, Ludmila Putina and Samantha Cameron