/ 9 December 2011

Russian vote monitor’s emails published after exposing abuses

Emails of a Russian vote monitor Golos were published by a pro-Kremlin website after the monitor apparently exposed abuses at the polls.

A pro-Kremlin Russian website on Friday printed emails it said were between independent election monitors Golos and the US government in the latest attack on the group that exposed abuses in the polls.

The report on Life News tabloid website highlighted US funding for Golos after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Thursday accused the United States of provoking election protest.

“Before it was just talk that the Golos association is sponsored from across the ocean, now we have real proof,” the website wrote.

It alleged that the documents proved “financing of activity aimed at discrediting the elections in Russia”.

Golos responded by saying it had made no secret of its US funding but that it would take legal action if it found that its email had been illegally accessed.

“It’s stupid because we have never hidden this financing. We are already tired of talking about it,” deputy executive director Grigory Melkonyants said.

A criminal offence
Melkonyants said he had not yet read the emails, but that the association would be investigating and would take legal action if their email had been illegally published.

“This is a criminal offence. I hope they will be brought to justice,” he said.

The website did not say in its report how it acquired the emails.

The Golos association’s website was targeted in a hacker attack on Sunday with staff unable to access email.

In the run-up to the elections, the monitoring group was summoned to court and fined for publishing data in violation of election laws. It was also targeted in a smear TV documentary on its US funding.

Fear of the truth
The group created a Map of Violations website reporting thousands of instances of election rigging and coercion of voters.

Melkonyants linked the latest publication to the authorities’ previous attacks.

“This shows their fear of the truth, their fear of Golos,” he said.

The tabloid published an email written in Russian apparently from a United States Agency for International Development staff member dated 2007 asking for Golos’s financial and administrative details.

It also published an email forwarding a White House statement on December 2 condemning the harassment of Golos. — AFP