("Chas/Time" newspaper, July 21, 1995).

POLITICAL MURDERS IN RUSSIA, that tries to prove the world that an authoritarian regime can be more sanguinary than a totalitarian one

Tatiana Ivzhenko, UNIAR, Moscow, specially for "Chas/Time"

"Glasnost" fund, directed by Russian lawyer Sergei Grigoriants, has addressed to Mr. Mesarosh, the director of Organization for security and cooperation in Europe (OSCE) representation in Moscow, and Mr. Chernomyrdin, the Prime Minister of Russian Federation, with a letter concerning illegal arrest of Khamat Kurbanov, the official representative of J. Dudajev in Russian Federation, committed on June 17 of this year. In particular, the letter reads that the arrest of Mr. Kurbanov, committed on base of president Yeltsin's decree "On struggle against organized criminality", is not motivated up to now: bodies of justice and the Federal Security Service refuse to inform lawyers and relatives of Mr. Kurbanov about a reason of the arrest and of the further keeping of the arrested in prison.

Kurbanov has announced a hunger strike since the first day of the arrest, and was denied medical aid. The latter was estimated by "Glasnost" fund as a violation of human rights. "We consider, that humane arguments are not too convincing for representatives of executive power and justice bodies of Russia,"-- reads the letter,-- "that's why we propose to enroll Mr. Kurbanov in the list of arrested during military conflict and to release him immediately." Authors of the letter turn attention of OSCE and the Prime Minister of Russian Federation to the fact that a delay of a decision may result in not only death of a man, but also in complication of Russian and Chechen negotiations in Grozny up to unpredictable consequences.

Human rights' violations, as well as political murders, are customary in Russia, Sergei Grigoriants said in his interview. Today we can see the same thing like 15 years ago. During 80 years we have felt no lack of declarations of democracy. We have always been "an example of democracy", and until now we are.

The situation differs from ex-Soviet only because in the times of Soviet Union they tried to "educate" us and to convince us that everything made here is an embodiment of "a dream of humankind about democracy". Now nobody convinces us. We are said: "Of course, you may consider leaders of this country scoundrels, but just do what you're said. Otherwise we'll kill." At every step we run over a confirmation of an idea, that the state government of Russia doesn't care a fig about the people's opinion in this government, about opinions of parties and associations, about decisions of State Duma and Federal Council. Nobody turns attention to newspapers, and once they do, they do it only to accuse them of espionage: all journalists who write about Chechnia are Dudajev's mercenaries. So, murders, a special kind of reprisal, are now an exact providence, a goal of which is to intimidate the society.

Russian murders begin to remind ones in Latin America, where for a long time such a peculiar manifestation of liberty exists in many countries: you can speak of what you want, but if they don't like things you speak of, they kill you. This concerns journalists, this concerns public opinion... It seems, we are just following this way.

It is interesting that the situation, in comparison with years 1918 and 1937, is virtually the same attempt to distribute the power. However, the present power is of the other kind, this is the other type of state structure and government. In 1918 and 1937, different kinds of totalitarian society grew stronger, while today an authoritarian regime grows up in Russia. And it seems, Russia will do prove the world that an authoritarian regime can be more sanguinary than a totalitarian one.

Regime change in 1991, split of KGB into different parts (after Vadim Bakatin was changed by Viktor Barannikov) didn't influence the nature of todays Ministry of Security and its attitude toward democracy. Crimes with a virtual political implication (like attack of "Glasnost" office and a murderous assault on a well-known lawyer Tatiana Kuznetsova when she demanded declassification of KGB archives) never have been revealed: investigation bodies ignore such cases.

Meanwhile, the number of professional murders in 1993-1995, in which "a hand of special services" can be easily noticed, grows year after year. They could be relatively divided into political and economical ones, though it is just a formal division.

It was said enough about murders of journalists Listjev and Kholodov. Let's recall the murder of Sergei Dubov, the director-general of "Novoje Vremia" ("New Time") association. This association (a magazine and a publishing house) was founded by KGB as a cloak for an espionage activity. Not only Vitali Levchenko and Iona Andronov, but also dozens of other correspondents of "Novoje Vremia" were regular collaborators of first Central department of KGB. Mr. S. Dubov, a drastic businessman, has become rich and influential in a short time, though he refused to cooperate special services. When it became clear that the director-general can not be "curbed", they have offered him to retire first. They have killed Dubov's son of 17 years old for Dubov delayed a decision, and have killed Dubov himself in several months, when he tried to investigate death of his son. Bodies of justice announced then that the death of Dubov's son is a suicide, and Dubov himself has died by an accident. No lawyer in Moscow dared to take th

is case, in spite of a great amount of evidences that both deaths are intentional murders.

I know that one of high officials in Federal Security Service, while reading newspapers, uses to comment information about murders committed to order: "This is our handwriting, and that is not..." Here is an absolute certainty of being unpunished!

A son of a well-known pianist Alexandr Brumberg, who has immigrated from USSR, a businessman Sergei Mozharov declared, that he has seen a list of people "doomed to annihilation". Twenty-seven people, Dubov and Mozharov himself being among them. Mozharov has stopped any industrial activity in Russia and left immediately to France to be killed there later.

In general, political murders of last one and a half years have a characteristic feature of being committed not so openly, masked as traffic catastrophes, accidents, suicides. Thus, on May 12, 1994, chief editor and owner of a liberal newspaper "Literaturnyje Novosti" Eduard Iodkovskiy was "got away". In spite of warnings "to loose a trial to pro-communist newspaper "Dien" ("Zavtra")", Iodkovskiy won that trial. The next day, according to information of justice bodies, he was dead by a traffic accident. The case was also not investigated, and guilty were not revealed. Here we must notice, that "Dien" ("Zavtra") newspaper is known to be connected with special services, especially with Federal Agency for government communications and information.

"My son Timofey was murdered on January 21, 1995. Although his neighbour saw that he was thrown out of a car, the investigators insist on 'an accident'. Besides, results of medical examination were stolen from the morgue, and a trial was 'delayed' on this case; so, according the law, I have no right to have information about it. They called me many times and warned that the death of my son is a wage for my activity, and the same fate awaits for my daughter and wife. As far as the investigator refuses to consider my appeal about threats of my family, I have to request French government for political refuge for my daughter and wife."

Who can struggle with it? Apart from Russian justice organizations, different international ones (in particular, American) work in Moscow. They have different inclinations and interests, but the majority of these organizations meet serious obstacles and hindrances of power structures of Russia more and more often. For instance, Soros fund is virtually under continuous control of special services that sometimes afford open boorish thrusts and even threats. American justice organization "Freedom House" tried to organize a conference in Moscow concerning a question of new legislation on special services activity. Representative of Federal Security Service general Mikhajlov has declared about the conference, that it is an interference with interior affairs of Russia. I am sure if we look at American laws, Americans would not think of it as of an interference with American interior affairs. It is quite normal and legal thing. Hence, as before, it is difficult and dangerous for justice organizations to work in tod

ays circumstances. These two examples illustrate that political situation in Russia is coming worse. Special services are unpunished and not limited in their activity, as well as KGB.

At last, only two questions appear: who gives orders and who executes political murders. Because of international resonance of some murders, one can affirm that level of making criminal decisions is very high. There is no a direct answer of this question even just because nobody will investigate a case like Nurnberg trial concerning gestapo and the political leadership of Nazi party. But it's clear, that the case of murder in Russia, for instance, of Italian activist of Transnational Radical party Andrea Tamburi, who was the leader of action for release of Helsinki group members sentences to death penalty in Tiraspol, could not make no interest of Italian special services. This murder was planned on the level of Russian government with participation of Russian special services. Also an explosion in "Moskovskiy Komsomolets" newspaper and the murder of Dmitri Kholodov could not have been initiated by "a colonel". Sometimes, as in case of murder of Listjev, reasons of competition could play a role. In other cas

es, as, for instance, mass murders in Samashki, the decisions were obviously made by a collective, for example, at a Security Council closed sitting. Thus, having no idea who exactly -- S. Stepashin, A. Korzhakov, M. Barsukov, A. Starovojtov or Y. Baturin -- is now giving orders of known murders in Russia, one can state, that

-- the number of political murders will grow provided present government of Russian Federation will be retained;

-- some information above may be not fully checked up or not perfectly exact, because the whole information is classified as secret, evidences of crimes are destroyed by bodies of justice themselves, witnesses are intimidated or also killed, and no case of political murder was completely investigated, while the society expects of the government new crimes at any moment.