[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 57-58]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                 RUSSIA

  Mr. WICKER. Mr. President, I am speaking today on a very important 
international foreign policy issue. That will be the subject of my 
address today. I wanted to come down here the first day of this 
legislative session, this 112th Congress, and talk about the 
deteriorating situation with regard to oppression and the rule of law 
in Russia. I have come to this floor a number of times to share my 
concern on this subject. I wish to begin this Congress by once again 
expressing my deep concern for what we see happening just in the recent 
days in Russia.
  I remember looking back in 1990 and 1991 at the hope we had, the 
optimism we in the West had as we watched the Iron Curtain fall, as we 
watched the wall tumble in Berlin, and we watched with hope that this 
would be a new day for people behind the Iron Curtain and a new 
opportunity for freedom and openness in that society. Unfortunately, 
year after year, month after month, we have seen since the fall of the 
Soviet Union a very regrettable and disturbing deterioration in the 
rule of law in Russia and a move back to the authoritarian rule of old 
we all remember so well. Recent events in Russia once again cause us to 
believe this problem is escalating and have caused me to come to the 
floor today on this subject.
  Last month, the leadership of this Senate pushed through, I think in 
haste, the New START treaty with Russia. I had concerns over the 
treaty, and I ultimately voted against it. We had a lot more debate 
that needed to take place. We had dozens of amendments that went 
undebated and unconsidered and not voted upon by this body, and I 
regret that. I always thought nuclear arms policy and treaties with 
regard to our nuclear stockpile should be based on the security of the 
American people and that the primary issue should be what is in the 
best interests of the United States. What we saw a lot of in the debate 
last month was instead an emphasis on New START as the centerpiece of 
this administration's effort to reset relations with Russia. I 
certainly support the resetting of our relations with Russia, but I do 
not believe the New START treaty was the best way to advance this.
  But it should concern all of us, it should concern everyone within 
the sound of my voice, regardless of how we voted on New START that 
within 2 weeks' time of this body approving the New START treaty, a 
Russian court issued a second spurious guilty verdict against Mikhail 
Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev. Almost simultaneously, authorities in 
Russia arrested prominent Russian opposition figure, former Deputy 
Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov. These events took place within days of 
each other.
  What do these recent events mean? To me, they are two other examples 
of the way the current Russian leadership does not respect universal 
values such as the rule of law or freedom of expression and assembly. 
The Russian Government does not share our commitment to international 
norms or fostering modernization. Resetting U.S.-Russian relations will 
be exceedingly difficult while these differences persist.
  During the last Congress, I spoke several times on the trial of 
Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev. I concluded my most recent 
remarks by saying that I hoped Russia would choose the right path and 
somehow justice would prevail in that case. Sadly, it did not. A 
Russian court issued another politically motivated guilty verdict 
against these two Russian dissidents. This disturbing verdict reveals 
that the Russian judiciary lacks independence and that Russian 
authorities can act above the law at will. This latest verdict was not 
only sad for Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Platon Lebedev, and their families, 
but also for all people, for all of us who seek a more open Russia 
based on the rule of law.
  Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's comments on the case before the 
verdict was even issued were very troubling indeed. According to the 
Associated Press, Russia's Prime Minister said that the crimes of the 
former oil tycoon have been proven--he said this before the verdict was 
even issued--and that a ``thief should sit in jail.'' Mr. Putin said 
Khodorkovsky's present punishment is more liberal than the 150-year 
prison sentence handed down in the United States to financier Bernard 
Madoff.
  Citing the years of advocacy and statements from global leaders, the 
very respected publication The Economist explained that Putin's 
comments were ``a humiliating slap in the face of all those foreign 
dignitaries . . . who had lobbied Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's president, 
to stop persecuting Mr. Khodorkovsky.'' I agree with the comments 
contained in the publication The Economist.
  In a democracy, courts are independent and the executive branch acts 
as a separate branch of government with no say in final court 
decisions. Prime Minister Putin's statement demonstrates that this 
separation does not exist in Russia.

[[Page 58]]

  As if the Khodorkovsky verdict did not make it clear enough that 
opposition will not be tolerated in Russia, Russian authorities 
arrested opposition leader and former Deputy Prime Minister Boris 
Nemtsov on New Year's Eve. This took place during a reportedly peaceful 
antigovernment rally in Moscow. Approximately 70 others were also 
arrested. A Moscow court sentenced former Deputy Prime Minister Nemtsov 
to 50 days in jail for allegedly disobeying police. This arrest was a 
tremendous disappointment, but it certainly was not a surprise. The 
Russian Government had recently begun granting permission for 
semiregular protests. I use the term ``semiregular'' because it was 
granted only for the last day of months with 31 days.
  I met with Mr. Nemtsov last March when he was here in Washington. He 
came to my office, and we had a very enlightening discussion about the 
future of Russia. I admired his dedication and commitment to promoting 
democracy in Russia, and I hope and pray for his safety during the 
remaining days in a Moscow jail cell.
  Sadly, we have learned that not all those who opposed the Russian 
Government do, in fact, return from Russian jails. Sergei Magnitsky, 
who was a young Russian anticorruption lawyer employed by an American 
law firm in Moscow who blew the whistle on the largest tax rebate fraud 
in Russian history perpetrated by high-level Russian officials, is an 
example. Magnitsky was arrested shortly after he testified to 
authorities. He was held in detention for nearly a year without trial, 
under torturous conditions, and he died in an isolation cell on 
November 16, 2009, in Russia.
  During the 111th Congress, I joined Senators Cardin and McCain in 
cosponsoring the Justice for Sergei Magnitsky Act, which would freeze 
assets and block visas to Russian individuals responsible for Mr. 
Magnitsky's unfortunate death. In this, the 112th Congress, I will 
continue to highlight the treatment of opposition figures in Russia and 
the regrettable erosion of the rule of law.
  I urge President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton to make the 
treatment of opposition figures a central part of our efforts to reset 
relations with Russia. In order to make progress on other issues, 
Russia needs to prove it is truly committed to the rule of law and the 
human rights of all of its citizens, including those who disagree with 
the government. Without this, our efforts to find common ground on 
other issues of mutual concern will continue to be undermined.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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