September 28:
A U.S. appeals court upheld the conviction and prison sentence of convicted Russian arms dealer, Viktor Bout. According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Russia’s Foreign Ministry soon after released a statement criticizing the decision, claiming that the U.S. “legal machine once again rubber-stamped an obvious political stitch-up job despite the obvious weakness of the body of evidence.” Bout was arrested in 2008 in Thailand after he allegedly agreed to sell arms to men he believed to be members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), to use against U.S. forces.
September 30:
The well-known rights organization Human Rights Watch has called on the Kremlin to release the 30 people arrested in connection with a Greenpeace protest earlier in the month. “The Russian authorities are using a bogus charge to justify keeping the Greenpeace activists locked up for two months,” argued one of the organization’s researchers. “Accusing the activists of piracy is a grotesque distortion of the law that appears to be aimed more at intimidating Greenpeace than upholding law and order.” Those detained included citizens from 18 different countries and Russia, and among them are activists, ship personnel, cooks, a doctor, a photographer and a videographer, who were documenting the protest. Russian officials are currently investigating the activists’ alleged “assault” on the Prirazmolnaya oil rig.
October 2:
Two years after the violent overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya remains volatile. The Russian embassy in Libya’s capital of Tripoli came under fire this week as a group of people tried to force their way into the building. Reuters reports that there was no clear motive behind the attack, but sources say that security guards at the embassy fired shots to disperse a crowd of about 60 people that had approached the embassy. Russia’s Foreign Ministry indicated only that “a shooting occurred and there was an attempt to enter the territory of the Russian embassy in Libya,” adding that “the attackers opened fire and tore the Russian flag.” There were no injuries reported, but analysts note that such violence is not uncommon in the area, as extremist groups and clan and tribal rivalries flourish “in the absence of strong central government.”
October 3:
The arguments of rights groups seemed to fall on deaf ears, as Russian officials charged all 30 people arrested in connection with the Greenpeace protest in the Arctic earlier this month with piracy. The Los Angeles Times reports that all thirty people have been remanded to custody for at least two months, as officials continue their investigation. If convicted, the activists, along with the ship’s crew members that were arrested with them, face up to 15 years in a Russian prison. Greenpeace officials have already announced plans for a massive protest of the charges, which they characterize as an “extreme overreaction.” “The charges pressed against our fellow activists have nothing to do with reality or common sense.” insisted one Greenpeace activist. “While doing our best to get them out of prison, we will continue our work to attract attention to the ecological problems of the Arctic.”
October 4:
A new report from Human Rights Watch accused Russian authorities of detaining hundreds of migrant workers in raids across southern Russia, many of whom are allegedly being held in “arbitrary and inhumane conditions.” Moreover, reports the BBC, a number of those detained participated in the construction of stadiums and other facilities for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi. The organization has called on the International Olympics Commission to tell Russian authorities that the detention of migrants was “completely unacceptable for an Olympic host city and that abusive detentions must stop immediately.” Tens of thousands of migrants from Central Asia are believed to be working on the construction of Olympic venues.
The United States is on track to surpass Russia in production of both natural gas and oil for the first time in history. The Guardian reports that the U.S. is currently producing just under 25 million barrels a day of oil, natural gas and related fuels, while Russia totals just under 22 million barrels a day. Experts credit the production increase in the U.S. to new drilling techniques, including horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, both of which Russia, which is believed to hold one of the world’s largest oil-bearing shale formations, has been reluctant to adopt.