Boris Nemtsov: Putin wants to neutralize everyone by example of Lukashenka

Russia's famous opposition member talks to charter97.org commenting on initiating a new criminal case against him.

A criminal case over alleged beating of pa ro-Kremlin activist at Moscow's Domodedovo airport is going to be initiated against the leader of RPR-PARNAS Party. Boris Nemtsov. Maksim Perevalov, an activist of Nashi pro-Kremlin youth movement, said in February 2012 that Nemtsov had hit him when he tried to shoot a video interview with the politician on his mobile phone. Perevalov tried to interview Nemtsov before boarding a plane to Toronto. Nemtsov says the young man's behaviour was “abnormal and paranoid”. The politician took away his mobile phone and handed it to police.

Police refused to initiate a criminal case on Perevalov's claim. The activist applied then to a court. The Justice Court of Domodedovo district considered materials of a medical examination of Perevalov and airport's CCTV camera footage. The court closed the case in May “due to the third ruling of the investigative agency declaring the lack of elements of crime”.

“It is absurd! I won two trials, but the Nashi activist applied to his masters in the Kremlin and they gave an order to look into the matter. Low-ranking investigators, who dealt with the case, were expelled, policemen changed their evidence and the case was sent to a court again.

They are looking for any fault. It's a real criminal buffet with a wide choice – mass disorders, swearing on the phone and now a fight,” Nemtsov said to charter97.org.

According to the politician, the Nashi activist behaved in a rude way trying to make video on his cell phone before the flight to Toronto. In the beginning, he confused Nemtsov with a man from Krasnoyarsk and persecuted him with questions in a bus on the way to Domodedovo airport. The video of this 'conversation' became a hit on the Internet and inspired users to shoot a similar interview with a cat.

“He mistaken me for a n unlucky man from Krasnoyarsk and annoyed him with questions all the way to the airport. The man from Siberia was surprisingly patient and showed a calm reaction. Finally, a supervisor of the Nashi activist understood that Perevalov had mistaken and ordered to repeat the process with real me. These Perevalovs are a symbol of the Putin regime,” the former deputy prime minister of Russia is confident.

It's a recent trend that new criminal cases on absurd charges are initiated against leaders of the Russian opposition. Garry Kasparov is accused of biting a finger of a policeman. Sergei Udaltsov is accused of beating a pro-Kremlin activist. Alexei Navalny is involved in Kirovles criminal case, but remains free on his own recognizance.

“It means Putin wants to neutralize and intimidate everyone by putting a label of hooligans on us. A normal person will not believe in this nonsense. It could have some sense if we didn't have the Internet. This is degradation of the authorities, who fail to understand how life works. Their target group is people without secondary education. These people vote for Putin. Lukashenka acts in the same way. Normal people cannot believe in this baloney,” Nemtsov said.