Bashkortostan Steps Up Poll Crackdown

By Chloe Arnold

The government of the republic of Bashkortostan has pushed ahead with its crackdown on the opposition ahead of presidential elections, closing down an independent radio station and arresting about 100 people who took to the streets in protest.

Among those detained last Wednesday were the radio station's head, who was still in jail Monday, and a would-be presidential challenger, Rafis Kadyrov, who has been prevented from running in the June 14 election.

In March, authorities closed down Vecherny Neftekamsk, the Volga River republic's only genuine independent newspaper, which had angered the government with its articles accusing officials of corruption and civil rights abuses.

Conflict between the government and the Titan radio station began last month, after Kadyrov and two other presidential hopefuls were disqualified. In a news broadcast, station head Altaf Galeyev urged listeners to take up arms against what he called Bashkortostan's tyrannical regime. He also said he had renamed the square outside his offices ``Liberty Square''.

The exclusion of the three opposition candidates means incumbent President Murtaza Rakhimov will run virtually unopposed, with a minor minister from his own government as his only rival.

Two weeks later, Galeyev was sent a letter informing him that he lacked certification that his radio transmitters were located a safe distance from residential areas, the licensing committee confirmed. Although the station had been operating for two years without certification, it was closed down last Monday.

Two days later, about 100 people, including Galeyev and Kadyrov, barricaded the central street in Ufa, the republic's capital, in protest. They carried banners calling for freedom of independent radio stations ``so that they can tell the truth about the government's heinous activities''.

But within minutes of their closing off Ulitsa Karl Marx, police arrived at the scene and began arresting the protesters. At this point, Galeyev fired two shots into the air from an air rifle.

``Galeyev is still being held'', Kadyrov said in a telephone interview Monday. ``Most likely, they will keep him locked up him until after the elections''.

Galeyev, who was being held in isolation, is accused of criminal behavior and hooliganism, the republic's prosecutor said. All the rest of those detained were released by Saturday.

The arrests met with outrage from human rights watchdogs. ``Unfortunately, this is becoming a very familiar feature'', said Diederik Lohman, director of the Moscow office of Human Rights Watch. ``Little fiefdoms within the Russian Federation are building up increasingly authoritarian regimes''.

But Lohman put the blame on the Kremlin. ``We have seen the same thing in Tatarstan and in Kalmykia'', he said. ``The government blames local authorities for these human rights infringements. But in the end it is federal authorities who should bear responsibility''.

Kadyrov is appealing the decision blocking his candidacy. The local election commission refused to register him and two other would-be candidates, saying that signatures on their nominating petitions were forged or obtained under false pretenses. The candidates accused police of intimidating their supporters into retracting their signatures.

Iinside Russia: Russia Ignores Bashkortostan At Own Peril

By Yulia Latynina

Presidential elections will be held on June 14 in the republic of Bashkortostan. The incumbent, Murtaza Rakhimov, will have only one rival at the elections: Forestry Minister Rif Kazakkylov, who has had no other political experience. The other candidates --- the former chairman of the Council of Ministers, Marat Mirgazyamov, State Duma Deputy Alexander Arinina and former chairman of the Vostok bank, Rafis Kadyrov --- have thus far been disqualified. The signatures they gathered have been declared invalid.

One student from Bashkortostan State University who gathered signatures for opposition candidates wrote: ``On May 2 around 20 policemen... came to the countryside to check the authenticity of the signatures for Arinin. They went into each home and forced everyone to account for their signatures. The kolkhoz chairman... came to our home and threatened my father that he would be fired from work. He also asked me where I studied... and then said I would be thrown out of the university''. During this time the tax police visited Mirgazyamov's factory and froze the accounts.

Rakhimov treats the opposition as an Eastern khan would rebels. In 1993 his main rival for president was Kadyrov. ``During the elections I had 85 trusted people working for me'', Kadyrov told me. ``They all lost their jobs. In the 17 regions in which I won, the heads of administration were fired. The directors at factories in which I held meetings were removed from their duties''. In 1993 Kadyrov did everything he could to become another Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, president of Kalmykia, and convert money into power. But he still lost.

Rakhimov has long since mastered the art of getting the election results he wants. In 1996 the overwhelming majority in the republic voted for Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov for president in the first round and President Boris Yeltsin in the second. While the obstinate head of the local administration threatened to turn off the electricity, ballots in support of Zyuganov floated in the river.

Among the Russian republics, Bashkortostan is most like a Central Asian khanate. The majority of opposition figures have either emigrated to Moscow or are in prison on criminal charges. The heads of the regional administrations are not elected, as throughout Russia, but are nominated by the president of the republic. The economy is under the control of the president's family. The oil sector is headed by his son Ural Rakhimov, deputy general director of Bashneftekhim. The bank that the local government authorized to handle the republic's public funds is Bashkreditbank, which is tax exempt and headed by the nephew of Rakhmonov's wife. The Committee on State Control (an institution with no analogues in the whole of Russia) makes short work of its enemies and enjoys the complete submission of its friends.

Moscow's failure to act can be understood. It sees candidates that are capable of opposing Rakhimov but not the regime itself. Little would change if Kadyrov or Mirgazyamov were to win other than the head of the republic. Still, I cannot help thinking that the Bashkir (or the Tatar and Kalmyk) example can be infectious, and a country that tolerates on its territory a Paraguayan- or Tajik-type regime will itself sooner or later turn into a khanate.

Yulia Latynina is a staff writer for Expert magazine.

2 июня 1998г. The Moscow Times