Russia

Floor Speech

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.

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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