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Putin’s New ‘Treason Bill’ Makes The Stalinization Of Russia All But Complete
It looks like the Soviet Union isn’t dead after all. Vladimir Putin has spent years gutting every democratic institution in Russia. No more free media or free speech. No right to assembly, no independent judiciary, etc. Now, it appears that Putin is putting the icing on his totalitarian cake with a new “Treason bill” that is expected to become law.
New legislation backed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin would allow Russian authorities to label any government critic a traitor—a move that rights activists said Wednesday was a chilling throwback to times of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.
The bill, which is expected to become law, would expanded the definition of treason to include damaging Russia’s constitutional order, sovereignty or territorial integrity. That, rights activists said, would essentially let authorities interpret any act against state as treason—a crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Activists said that would catapult Russia’s justice system back to the times of Stalin’s purges, calling it “legislation in the spirit of Stalin and Hitler.”
“It returns the Russian justice to the times of 1920-1950s,” the activists, which included Moscow Helsinki Group head Lyudmila Alexeyeva and Civic Assistance director Svetlana Gannushkina, said in a joint statement.
This is the final death nail for any kind of free speech in Russia. Putin’s grip on the country is now complete. Russia is once again a Soviet dictatorship with a KGB man at its head. Up to this point, Russia hasn’t been able to declare open season on human rights, because victims of the regime could complain to the European Court of Human Rights. These complaints are made through NGO’s and the new law will effectively neuter all NGO’s in Russia.
Putin will be free to re-open the gullogs and be the KGB strongman he’s always wanted to be. America haters love to call president Bush a ‘war criminal’ but somehow miss the fact that Vladimir Putin actually is a war criminal. The atrocities committed in Chechnya by the Russian military make Iraq look like Disneyland.
Shoe Throwing Journalists Means Vibrant Democracy
Col. Ralph Peters has an excellent column in the NY Post today about the disgraceful shoe throwing journalist. Peters makes the point that shoes being thrown at the president in Iraq means we won. There is no other country in the Middle East in where such a free wheeling press conference would be tolerated. If such an act were to occur at a press conference in Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, or any other country in the region with the exception of Israel the shoe tosser would almost certainly lose his life –and his family might as well.
Peters goes on to point out that the only reason the so-called ‘journalist’ did what he did was because he knew he would get away with it. So the very democracy he curses and spits upon is what allowed him to disrespect our president and live to tell about it.
It’s also worth noting that the shoe thrower is a supporter of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his family has a poster of Che Guevara on their wall. So democracy is clearly something they don’t get. However, if the shoe throwing journalist would like to throw something at our troops when he gets out of jail I’m sure they can arrange a meeting for him with say — 72 virgins.
-Chris Jones
The Return of Big Brother in Putin’s Russia
The St. Petersburg Times has an interesting Op-Ed about how President Putin has built up Russia’s security apparatus to the point that it now it exceeds the power the KGB once held in the Soviet Union.
As a former KGB man himself, Putin has spent his Presidency rebuilding the secret police and intelligence services that former President Yeltsin dismantled. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the KGB was reborn as the FSB as it is called today.
Yeltsin felt that under Soviet rule the KGB had too much power and influence. He liked the U.S. system of spreading power to a number of agencies and sought to remake Russia’s security apparatus in much the same way.
Putin watched his beloved FSB be gutted and much of the organization’s power taken away and split between two other agencies. He privately vowed to change this if his comrades would stand behind him as he sought to become President.
True to his word, the newly appointed President Putin quickly folded the two agencies that Yeltsin created and placed them under the umbrella of the FSB. He didn’t stop there however, he also littered his administration with current and former FSB/KGB agents.
A whopping 78% of the country’s leadership is affiliated with the FSB or KGB and the power of the Russian security services is at an all time high.
Moreover, all big companies in Russia are required to put people from the security services on the board of directors to ensure that the company acts in the interests of the Kremlin.
Current and former FSB officers work in large private companies as well. Another former FSB official said the Kremlin wanted the officers to make sure the companies do not act against Russia’s interests.
“Big companies in Russia consult with the Kremlin before striking any big deal. The officers working for those companies are there to make sure that things are done properly or the way the Kremlin wants,” the official said.
The companies, who pay generous salaries to the officers, feel they get their money’s worth. The officers make sure they do not have problems with the Kremlin.
“All big companies have to put people from the security services on the board of directors,” said a banker with a large private bank. “Many are appointed as directors or deputy directors. They are called ‘active reserve agents,’ and we know that when Lubyanka calls, they have to answer them.”
FSB headquarters is commonly referred to as Lubyanka. There are no estimates for how many officers with links to intelligence work in private companies.
“It works like a pyramid: Big state and private companies hire KGB and FSB big shots, medium-size companies hire medium agents, and small companies employ ordinary officers,” the former FSB official said.
Medium and small companies hire former KGB and FSB agents to protect their businesses from corrupt tax or fire inspectors and to cut through bureaucracy, he said.
“Before, the protection job was done by the mafia, but now its role has been taken over by the agents,” he said.
I don’t think there’s any doubt that Putin has brought a certain level of stability and prosperity to Russia (at least for some) but the question then becomes, at what cost?
Imagine if every business decision had to be first cleared with the CIA and FBI here in America. Putin’s liberal use of the security services really taps into the old Soviet era paranoia that still grips many of the old players in Russia.
The idea that draconian measures are an absolute necessity to “save” Russia from an ever present enemy that wishes to do her harm is something that has been drilled into the Russian psyche for 50 years.
On the other hand, without a strong man like Putin at the reigns it’s quite possible that the whole of Russia might have been swallowed up by organized crime by now.
It will be interesting to see how the situation continues to evolve in Russia as they struggle to find the kind of Democracy that works for them.
-Chris Jones
President Bush “Deeply Concerned” Over Arrest of Russian Protesters
President Bush said Monday he was “deeply concerned” at a crackdown on opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of elections, and called for their release from detention.
“I am deeply concerned about the detention of numerous human rights activists and political leaders who participated in peaceful rallies in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Nizhniy Novgorod, and Nazran this weekend.
“I am particularly troubled by the use of force by law enforcement authorities to stop these peaceful activities and to prevent some journalists and human rights activists from covering them,” Bush said in a statement.
About 200 opposition activists were detained by police at another demonstration in Saint Petersburg on Sunday, one week before Russia is to hold parliamentary elections.
“The freedoms of expression, assembly and press, as well as due process, are fundamental to any democratic society,” Bush said in his statement, which followed State Department concerns expressed Sunday over the events in Russia.
“I am hopeful that the government of Russia will honor its international obligations in these areas, investigate allegations of abuses and free those who remain in detention,” the president said.
Russian Police Crackdown On Anti-Putin Protests
Russian riot police beat opposition activists on Sunday and detained nearly 200 people at protest rallies against President Vladimir Putin a week before the country’s parliamentary election.
The unrest came a day after a similar event in Moscow ended with the arrest of Garry Kasparov, the former chess champion and opposition leader, whose coalition, Other Russia, has declared that Mr. Putin is turning Russia into a dictatorship. A judge sentenced Mr. Kasparov to five days in jail.
With the economy strong and the nation enjoying stability after the turmoil of the 1990s, Mr. Putin has become widely popular, and Mr. Kasparov’s movement has only a small following. Mr. Putin’s party, United Russia, is expected to win an overwhelming majority in the elections, aided by the Kremlin’s control over government agencies and the news media.
About 500 activists made it to the marches but were vastly outnumbered by riot police. Most of those detained were later released.
-Samantha Giles
Musharraf commits to early January elections
Raising the prospect of crucial parliamentary elections being held under de facto martial law, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said the balloting would take place in early January but set no date for lifting an 8-day-old emergency decree.
Sunday’s news conference, marked Musharraf’s first appearance before national and international media since he issued an emergency decree on Nov. 3, suspending the constitution and revoking citizens’ basic freedoms.
During his 90-minute news conference, the Pakistani leader was alternately conciliatory and combative, defending his decision to impose authoritarian measures as a personal sacrifice for the good of the country.
“It was indeed a bitter pill to swallow; it was no doubt the most difficult decision I have ever taken in my life,” said Musharraf, who was clad in a dark blue suit and tie, eschewing his military uniform. “I could have preserved myself, but it would have damaged the nation.”
Musharraf said he had instructed election officials to move as quickly as possible to set a date for the vote, following the dissolution of parliament and regional assemblies in the coming week. Elections are to take place within 60 days of that step, with a caretaker government in place in the meantime.
Putin Continues to Chip Away At Democracy
Left-wing critics of the Bush Administration love to howl about how the President is rolling back our freedoms and trying to create a “fascist” government.
People who are even remotely connected with reality know that’s complete nonsense. However, what’s happening in Putin’s Russia is very real.
Vladimir Putin actually is rolling back freedoms. The Kremlin has near complete control over who can run for office in Russia. The next President of Russia when Putin steps down will be someone he chooses as his replacement. There are opposition candidates running, but it’s really not possible for them to actually win.
Opposition candidates also run the very real risk of being killed by the FSB formerly known as the KGB, as do journalists, businessmen, or anyone else that offends the Putin.
The NY Times is reporting today that Putin’s latest anti-democratic power grab involves clamping down on election observers.
The Kremlin aims to curtail the activities of election observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe — just in time for Russia’s December parliamentary elections and March presidential election.
President Vladimir Putin is not trying to bar the observers altogether; that would be too obvious. What he wants is to cut the size of the monitoring missions and stop them from immediately releasing their reports, thus diminishing their impact.
What President Putin is doing is what rolling back Democracy actually looks like, not anything President Bush is doing. As long as liberals can go on TV and call the President a liar and a war criminal and not end up dead, then I think America is still pretty damn free.
-Chris Jones
Burma: Thousands dead in massacre of the monks dumped in the jungle
Thousands of protesters are dead and the bodies of hundreds of executed monks have been dumped in the jungle, a former intelligence officer for Burma’s ruling junta has revealed.
The most senior official to defect so far, Hla Win, said: “Many more people have been killed in recent days than you’ve heard about. The bodies can be counted in several thousand.”
Mr Win, who spoke out as a Swedish diplomat predicted that the revolt has failed, said he fled when he was ordered to take part in a massacre of holy men. He has now reached the border with Thailand.
Meanwhile, the United Nations special envoy was in Burma’s new capital today seeking meetings with the ruling military junta.
Ibrahim Gambari met detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Rangoon yesterday. But he has yet to meet the country’s senior generals as he attempts to halt violence against monks and pro-democracy activists.
It is anticipated the meeting will happen tomorrow.
Heavily-armed troops and police flooded the streets of Rangoon during Mr Ibrahim’s visit to prevent new protests.
Mr Gambari met some of the country’s military leaders in Naypyidaw yesterday and has returned there for further talks. But he did not meet senior general Than Shwe or his deputy Maung Aye – and they have issued no comment.
Reports from exiles along the frontier confirmed that hundreds of monks had simply “disappeared” as 20,000 troops swarmed around Rangoon yesterday to prevent further demonstrations by religious groups and civilians…FULL STORY
Dems Can’t Make Guarantee on Iraq Troops
HANOVER, N.H. (AP) – The leading Democratic White House hopefuls conceded Wednesday night they cannot guarantee to pull all U.S. combat troops from Iraq by the end of the next presidential term in 2013.
“I think it’s hard to project four years from now,” said Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois in the opening moments of a campaign debate in the nation’s first primary state.
“It is very difficult to know what we’re going to be inheriting,” added Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.
“I cannot make that commitment,” said former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina.
Sensing an opening, Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson provided the assurances the others would not.
“I’ll get the job done,” said Dodd, while Richardson said he would make sure the troops were home by the end of his first year in office.
Foreign policy blended with domestic issues at the debate on a Dartmouth College stage, and several of the contenders endorsed payroll tax increases to assure a stable Social Security system.
Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, as well as Dodd, Obama and Edwards all said they would apply the tax to income now exempted.
Richardson said he wouldn’t and Clinton refused to say. “I’m not putting anything on the proverbial table” unilaterally, she said.
Current law levies a 6.2 percent payroll tax only on an individual’s first $97,500 in annual income.
Biden also said he was willing to consider gradually raising the retirement age, which is now 67.
Kucinich said that while he favors taxing additional income, he wants to return the retirement age to 65, where it stood until the law was changed in 1983.
Health care, and the drive for universal coverage, also figured in the debate…FULL STORY
George Soros: The Enemy Within
Anyone who isn’t a total left-wing lunatic has known for years that George Soros is a bad guy. Not just because he does everything he can to undermine America and its traditions, but because he is quite literally a crook. In 2002 a French court convicted Soros of insider trading and the court’s decision was upheld in 2006.
Investor’s Business Daily recently wrote a multi-part expose on Soros and his growing influence in American politics. His fingerprints are literally on every major issue of the day from terrorism to global warming.
In the latest installment in the multi-part expose, Investor’s Business Daily exposes some pretty incredible information about where all his money is actually going.
Under the guise of “philanthropy,” Soros tends to fund pressure groups and foundations he misleadingly characterizes as promoting “civil society” and “democracy.” His view is that America needs to be knocked off its pedestal and he is willing to use “any legal means” necessary to make that happen.
He funds the now infamous MoveOn.org that recently called General David Petraeus a traitor, and he funds Media Matters which is an amazingly distorted far-left propaganda site.
Investor’s Business Daily does a great job at highlighting some of his greatest hits:
Soros’ efforts go beyond spin. He has also bankrolled groups involved in the manipulation of elections, an activity that has increased since his money came into the picture. Two groups — Americans Coming Together and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now — were sanctioned recently by the Federal Election Commission for fraud.
Soros pledged $10 million to ACT, which has since been fined $775,000 for illegally funneling $70 million set aside for voter registrations to Democratic candidates.
He also gave at least $150,000 to ACORN, the left-wing group best known for pushing minimum-wage hikes, marching for illegal-immigrant amnesty and harassing Wal-Mart. ACORN has been accused of voter fraud in 13 states since 2004 and was convicted of falsifying signatures in a voter registration drive last July, drawing a fine of $25,000 in Washington state.
Probably the most troubling of all his endeavors is his total opposition to the U.S. fighting terrorism. He uses his wealth to undermine every single anti-terror measure the U.S. has taken since 9/11. He even funds anti-Israel groups and Soros himself is a Jew!
Soros additionally finances groups best described as helpful to terrorists. Since 1998, he has given the American Civil Liberties Union $5 million to empower criminals, including lawsuits on behalf of terrorists’ “civil rights.”
Soros’ Open Society Institute gave $20,000 for the legal defense of radical attorney Lynne Stewart. She was convicted in 2002 of abetting jailed terrorists after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Soros is also involved in the financing of a 9/11 memorial at ground zero, the World Trade Center Memorial Cultural Complex — which critics say blames the U.S. for 9/11.
“Bush says (the terrorists) hate us for what we are, not what we do, and I think that’s false,” Soros told an audience at UC Berkeley last year.
He has handed $3.1 million to the left-wing Tides Foundation, which funds organizations, such as the Sea Shepherds, Earth First! and the Ruckus Society, that have condoned or engaged in eco-terrorism.
On the international front, Soros-backed groups have undercut important U.S. allies, including Israel and Colombia, which have aligned with the U.S. rather than the U.N.
Both see their sovereignty as non-negotiable, view victory over their enemies as an absolute good and refuse to become failed states — all anathema to the thinking of Soros. His Human Rights Watch repeatedly attempts to portray both nations as pariah states.
Most baffling of all is Soros’s funding of radical groups who pressured the Transportation Security Administration to scrap a program called “Secure Flight,” which matched flight passenger lists with terrorist names. It gave more cash to other left-wing lawyers who persuaded a Texas judge to block cell phone tracking of terrorists.
On the global warming front, many people remember the recent furor over James Hansen who was publicly labeled as a courageous “NASA whistleblower” willing to stand up to the Bush Administration. He claimed in interviews with the Washington Post and the New York Times that NASA administrators have tried to influence his public statements about the causes of climate change. Hansen claims that NASA public relations staff were ordered to review his public statements and interviews after a December 2005 lecture at the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.
He also appeared on “60 Minutes”claiming that the White House edited climate-related press releases reported by federal agencies to make global warming seem like less of a threat.
Predictably the left went wild over these allegations, but Mr. Hansen would’ve had zero credibility if the American people had actually been told the full story. James Hansen’s legal team and media handlers were all bought and paid for by the Open Society Institute to the tune of $720,000. The Open Society Institute was founded by George Soros in 1993 and is his flagship organization.
It is the Open Society Institute that funds MoveOn.org, ACT, and other far left groups. What Mr. Soros in effect did was purchase a credible climate change expert to both damage the Bush Administration and further his radical global warming agenda.
Another issue that’s been pretty hot lately is immigration. Most people remember the uprising of 2 million angry Mexican-flag waving illegal immigrants demanding U.S. citizenship in Los Angeles, allegedly egged on only by a local Spanish-language radio announcer.
A look at the annual report from the Open Society Institute shows Soros bought and paid for that as well. The Open Society Institute owns another organization called the Justice Fund. The fund lists 19 projects in 2006. One was vaguely described involvement in the immigration rallies. Another project funded illegal immigrant activist groups for subsequent court cases.
So as Investor’s Business Daily puts it,
what looked like a wildfire grassroots movement really was a manipulation from OSI’s glassy Manhattan offices. The public had no way of knowing until the release of OSI’s 2006 annual report.
The bottom line is that George Soros is using his wealth to hurt America and his funding of far left character assassins is only lowering the political discourse in America and further dividing the country.
His manipulation of politics through money causes average Americans to become increasingly cynical of what they see and hear. Like a Hollywood filmmaker, Soros is able to create an illusion to further his political agenda. By the time we find out it was only an illusion it’s too late, because laws have been changed and new policies enacted.
By Chris Jones
The Hot Joints
Anti-war leaders stymied, frustrated
A well-known anti-war leader has gone public with the transcript of a private conference call that shows peace activists are exasperated with the Democratic congressional leadership and at a loss for a long-term strategy.
The Aug. 29 call highlights divisions in the Democratic Party that Republicans are gearing up to try to exploit as Congress debates its response to the report on Iraq this week by Gen. David H. Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker.
On Monday, the pair begins two days of testimony on Capitol Hill.
Republicans say the call reflects the degree to which war opponents have failed to gain the advantage that many in both parties thought would build over the summer.
Rabbi Michael Lerner, the editor of Tikkun magazine, posted the transcript Friday on the website of the Network of Spiritual Progressives, of which he is a co-chair.
The transcript shows that opponents of the war in Iraq plan to try to convince freshman Democrats from conservative districts that they might not get reelected unless the party produces something serious in the way of resistance to the war.
But the call shows the war opponents are having little success because of fears about the impact on next year’s elections if the party is seen as defeatist.
The call, which Lerner titled “Strategizing With Leaders of the Anti-War Movement,” included two sympathetic members of Congress and representatives of groups ranging from Code Pink to the Progressive Democrats of America.
Lerner — who is based in Berkeley, Calif., and is a leader of what he calls “the religious left” — told Politico in a phone interview on Sunday that he concluded from the call that the anti-war movement does not have a long-term strategy, even though the war “is going to continue through the end of President Bush’s administration” and perhaps into the term of the next president.
“A central point that the spiritual progressives are trying to make to the secular progressives is this: People in the U.S. are opposed to the war, but they feel that they need to have a picture of what the world would look like if the U.S. were to withdraw from the world by leaving Iraq,” Lerner said.
Lerner said he posted the transcript in an effort to convince war opponents that they need “some fundamentally new thinking.”
“Right now, we could write the story of this Congress as ‘Profiles in Cowardice,’” Lerner said. “There’s a great deal of frustration with the Democrats in the Congress – a sense almost of betrayal.
The Democrats don’t have – and even the people in the anti-war movement don’t have – a coherent alternative world view from which to base a strategy. That’s why they end up debating everything on the same terms that the Republicans do.”
Lerner, 64, said he is on the Orthodox side of the Jewish Renewal Movement; he gained a measure of fame early in the Clinton administration when then-first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton quoted his phrase “politics of meaning” in speeches.
Lerner said the transcript was prepared by his staff and that he is certain it is accurate.
Republicans are circulating the link to the transcript and think it makes their case that opponents of the war in Iraq are losing ground. “This call shows the tables may have turned,” said one Republican official.
“It shows the tightrope Democrats have to walk with an angry group of liberal organizers who are sensing defeat.”
The transcript quotes Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), who is co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, as saying: “The people that need to hear are the moderate Democrats who are holding up the whole thing.
They’re the ones who have to know that their people care, that they [want to] bring our troops home. They swear they don’t. They swear that they’ll lose their elections if they do the right thing.”
When one peace organizer talks about “peeling away Republican support for the war,” Woolsey interjects: “Maybe you folks should go after the Democrats.”
Chris Shields, Woolsey’s press secretary, said in reply: “As a leader of the anti-war movement, the congresswoman is committed to working with outside groups, her colleagues in the House and her party’s leadership to bring our troops home to their families in a safe and orderly manner.”
During the call, Woolsey advises the activists: “Help people change the conversation from ‘abandoning the troops’ to funding orderly redeployment. I’m telling you, that’s going to take six months to a year. … Progressives know that whether we spend money on this or not is going to make the difference. That’s all the House can really do, the budget part of it.”
The activists express discontent with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). At one point, Woolsey, who represents Marin and Sonoma counties, is quoted as saying: “I believe that Nancy is with us, and she’s counting on you guys … and me to push from the left in the Congress.”
Lerner, in the interview with Politico, was not sympathetic. “We’re not that concerned about what’s going on in her heart,” he said. “We’re trying to end the war, and in that, she does not seem to be very much with us, [she] is not willing to take any serious political risk.”
Jennifer Crider, a Pelosi aide who is communications director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in response: “We understand their frustration. Democrats are frustrated more Republicans won’t listen to their constituents and join our fight to end the war.”
The other lawmaker on the call, Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), defends Pelosi. “The speaker doesn’t have the votes,” he said. “If you see what has happened in the Democratic Caucus, I don’t think you’d be quite as critical of the speaker. She really is trying. … We cobbled together a majority by winning in a lot of seats that tend to be conservative: in the South, in the rural Midwest, and so on. These members are very much afraid that if they get too far out front, they’re going to lose their seat, and they’re being advised to not take risks so we can sustain this majority.”
“You know, it’s a calculated decision, and it’s a difficult one,” Moran added. “I think I know where Nancy is in her heart, and I think she is where we are. But she’s in a leadership position now. She needs to represent more than her immediate constituency; she’s got to represent the Democratic Party, and there’s a whole lot of Democrats that are far more reluctant to challenge this president and to make waves.”
Moran talks about finding cracks in Republican support. “Just as we have Democrats in conservative Republican seats, they’ve got more Republicans in what have become Democratic seats,” he said.
“We’ve got to target them. They’re going to have to choose between their loyalty to their constituency versus their president. Their president is on his way out, and when you talk to them privately, they share a lot more misgivings than they express publicly, and I think we need to tap into those misgivings.”
Lerner said he plans to hold a similar call “after the congressional thing plays out – probably in the middle of October.” He said he is debating whom to invite and is not sure it makes sense to include the members of Congress.
“They’re trying to explain to us why they can’t stop the stop the war,” Lerner said. “I have tremendous respect for these people, and I don’t mean to be sounding too negative about them. But I don’t know if it would be that profitable to have a conversation with people who have this need to protect Nancy.”
Elections violence grips Sierra Leone
FREETOWN (Reuters) – Dozens of people were wounded in clashes between supporters of rival political parties in Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown on Saturday ahead of next weekend’s presidential runoff in the war-battered African state.
Police fired tear gas to stop the street battles near the headquarters of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), a day after opposition candidate Ernest Bai Koroma was forced to abandon campaigning in the country’s southeast due to violence.
International observers have appealed for calm ahead of next Saturday’s election, which has been billed as a test of Sierra Leone’s recovery from a 1991-2002 diamond-fuelled civil war which killed more than 50,000 people.
A Reuters reporter saw around two dozen wounded people taken in a police van to a hospital in the coastal city. Police commander Tamba Gbekie said at least three people were stabbed.
Witnesses on the city’s streets reported hearing gunshots but police could not confirm whether they came from the crowd.
“They are throwing stones at us and firing,” said SLPP supporter Joseph Gbla, an unemployed 26-year-old. “They don’t want the peace to go further. They want to create chaos.”
Koroma, of the All People’s Congress (APC), won the August 11 first round with 44 percent of the vote, amid widespread discontent at rampant corruption and high unemployment.
Vice-President Soloman Berewa of the SLPP polled 38 percent, but faces an uphill task to win the September 8 runoff after third-placed candidate Charles Margai threw his support behind Koroma.
ETHNIC DIVISIONS
Police set up roadblocks along Freetown’s rock-strewn main thoroughfare, separating the two groups of supporters. Gangs of young men chanting SLPP slogans prowled the streets carrying sticks before gradually dispersing.
The disturbances later spread to the east of the city, an APC stronghold, where gangs of youths dressed in the party’s red colors tore down Berewa posters. Police again used tear gas to break up the mob.
“If you wear red they attack you,” said Samuel Koroma, 23 and unemployed. “The ruling government wants war because we don’t want them any more.”
The elections have revealed ethnic fault lines in the nation of more than 5 million people, with the SLPP drawing its support from the southern Mende peoples and the APC stronger in the Temne north and west.
They are the first polls since U.N. peacekeepers left two years ago in the wake of a conflict notorious for drugged child soldiers who mutilated, raped and killed civilians during a nightmare decade of intertwined wars in West Africa.
A high-level delegation from the Economic Commission of West African States (ECOWAS), led by Commission President Mohammed Ibn Chambas, met with party representatives to urge calm ahead the second-round.
At a meeting on Saturday, Berewa and Koroma agreed to a peace march on Monday in an effort to defuse political tensions. But observers said this was meaningless unless parties could control their sympathizers.
“The skirmishes in Freetown really underscore the need for the leadership to call their supporters to order and to have civil conduct and peaceful elections,” said Chris Fomunyoh of the National Democratic Institute’s (NDI) observer mission.
[Reuters]
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