The Hindu : Russian liberal MP shot dead

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 19, 2003

International

International

Russian liberal MP shot dead

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW APRIL 18. A prominent liberal lawmaker was gunned down in Moscow in broad daylight on Thursday, sending shockwaves across the Russian political community. Mr. Sergei Yushenkov (52), was gunned down by an unknown assailant at the doorsteps to his apartment building in northern Moscow after he got out of his chauffeur-driven car.

Police described the murder as a typical contract hit. The Russian legislator was killed hours after the Justice Ministry officially registered the Liberal Russia Party he set up last year. The party is planning to run for Lower House seats in the parliamentary election later this year, but it is still too small to offer serious challenge to any of the big players. Nevertheless, legislators believe the killing had political motives, while the Lower House Speaker, Gennady Seleznyov, described it as a "terrorist act.''

The high-profile murder of a lawmaker, the ninth since the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, provoked an uproar in Parliament on Friday, with deputies voting to call top law enforcement officials to the carpet next week. The killing has also dealt a blow to the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, who has repeatedly vowed to restore law and order after a decade of chaotic market reforms.

``Let him (Putin) tell us who is ruling the country: bandits, the Mafia or the President,'' said Ivan Nikitchuk, a Communist MP. "If the President can't run the country, he should step down.'' Mr. Putin's government has failed to curb a spade of contract killings, most of which never get unravelled.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International