Tuesday, January 15, 2008
The taxing problem of individual rights
Thank heavens there’s law and order somewhere. The Chechen Prosecutor’s Office is closing the Chechnya office of a British NGO that works with war-traumatized refugees. It seems the non-profit not only owes half a million rubles in back taxes, but also its dokyumenti weren’t in order.
This crucial investigation understandably has consumed substantial time and resources, so it’s now clear why the Chechen Prosecutor’s seven-year investigation into the kidnapping and murder of Ruslan Alikhadzhiev by Russian spetsnaz has failed to reach a conclusion.
Russia surely would be a land of individual liberty and rule of law, if only those darned Brits would pay their taxes. I suppose next those crazy Britishers will claim they actually operate legally and this is just retribution for British insistence that Russia extradite Andrei Luguvoi as a suspect in the Litvinenko murder, and the ensuing diplomatic dispute.
(Footnote:Yes, I know the British Council isn’t the Center for Peacemaking and Community Development. The CPCD is British, though, and much weaker and more vulnerable than the Council...or Russian spetsnaz.)
This crucial investigation understandably has consumed substantial time and resources, so it’s now clear why the Chechen Prosecutor’s seven-year investigation into the kidnapping and murder of Ruslan Alikhadzhiev by Russian spetsnaz has failed to reach a conclusion.
Russia surely would be a land of individual liberty and rule of law, if only those darned Brits would pay their taxes. I suppose next those crazy Britishers will claim they actually operate legally and this is just retribution for British insistence that Russia extradite Andrei Luguvoi as a suspect in the Litvinenko murder, and the ensuing diplomatic dispute.
(Footnote:Yes, I know the British Council isn’t the Center for Peacemaking and Community Development. The CPCD is British, though, and much weaker and more vulnerable than the Council...or Russian spetsnaz.)
