Will still be with us

On December 24, President Dmitry Medvedev had a live conversation with the heads of the three main Russian television channels. Here everything was, on the whole, more benign than between Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and the people—they didn’t ask frankly unpleasant questions, and they didn’t talk about unexpected, hidden problems. As for unpleasant questions, a disclaimer should be made here: Medvedev, like Putin, was asked a question about Mikhail Khodorkovsky. But if the resident of Irkutsk herself stated that she did not demand an answer, and clearly only meant to remind him that in the world there is not only his dog and “grateful grandmothers” (and the prime minister reacted, as always, extremely harshly, mentioning crimes that Khodorkovsky was not incriminated), then NTV General Director Vladimir Kulistikov was more interested not in Khodorkovsky himself, but in why, supposedly, other businessmen do the same thing that the former head of YUKOS and his accomplice Platon Lebedev are accused of, but with these others everything is fine . Medvedev began by saying that no government official should speak out on the Khodorkovsky case until a verdict has been passed. He spoke about this before, but in the same conversation with the people, the Prime Minister spoke quite to himself about the Khodorkovsky case: “But the accusation that is being brought against him now, the bill already amounts to hundreds of billions of rubles,” Putin said, although later explained to journalists that he did not put pressure on the court. Medvedev emphasized that lawyers and law enforcement officers act in the space of the possible: if, they say, there is evidence about the crimes of other businessmen, then let him, or better yet, bring this evidence to the prosecutor general. And then, if there is evidence, but the case is not progressed, it will be possible to talk about selective justice. And the rest is, according to the president, judgments.

Differences in approaches between the president and the prime minister could be seen on several other points. Speaking about the unrest in Moscow that occurred after the murder of Yegor Sviridov, Medvedev said that one cannot sympathize with one force and condemn another. Putin may not have done this (in any case, he explained to the fans with whom he rode on the bus that everyone should respect other people’s traditions), but he brought flowers to only one grave, and this is what is remembered above all: the picture.

In addition, Medvedev and Putin spoke differently about the exposed spies. Putin spoke of them, if not with the same love as Buffy the dog, then at least as the best people in the world who sacrificed their whole lives on the altar of the fatherland. Medvedev noted that they “are not heroes whom the state handed over to the slaughter.” However, by this he meant that the main thing was to help out his citizens.

The President, of course, was asked about the police. He spoke about the importance of public discussion and mentioned that, at the suggestion of citizens, a clause would be included in the relevant bill that would allow a suspect to call home. At the same time, he noted that there was a lot of controversy around this point. In addition, Medvedev emphasized that one cannot simply “caulk” a person in prison and beat evidence out of him there, although this is the easiest way. Such cases, he recalled, often fall apart in court, so the authorities need to work hard and collect evidence.

Medvedev was asked to list five events that he remembers about the past year. The president’s choice is as follows: a way out of the financial crisis (in any case, Medvedev and Putin believe that they have come out of it), fires in Russia (here the president noted the high quality of the work of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, although he added that the level still needs to be increased; in addition, he emphasized , that Russia did more for the victims than they do in other countries, and recalled the recent fires in Israel, where “they couldn’t do anything until we sent them planes”), the signing of the START-3 Treaty, the celebration of the 65th anniversary of the Victory and the choice of children's problems as one of the priority areas in Russia.

As for children, Medvedev called on employees of the guardianship and trusteeship authorities to take a more careful approach to resolving the issue of deprivation of parental rights. In his opinion, public organizations, including non-governmental ones, should be involved in this issue. Well, it would be good if intentions here did not diverge from deeds, otherwise lately we have been hearing a lot about how the state takes children away, using this as a way of putting pressure on parents in one way or another.

The president emphasized his distance from parties. Thus, he called for opposition parties that did not enter parliament to begin appearing not only on federal, but also on regional television channels. In addition, he stated that although now, of course, the influence of crime on power is not the same as it was in the 1990s, some people who should not be in power have “badges and party cards of our most outstanding political strength." And also, when Medvedev was asked which, besides him and Putin, there are strong politicians in Russia that he could consider as comrades or rivals, he listed the heads of parliamentary factions who have been in politics for decades (however, it should be recalled that the head Few people knew of the United Russia faction Boris Gryzlov until 2000, except for St. Petersburg politicians, and the parliamentary head of A Just Russia Nikolai Levichev entered politics only in 2002, when the Russian Party of Life headed by Sergei Mironov was created), as well as those whom Mikhail Kasyanov, Boris Nemtsov, Eduard Limonov, Garry Kasparov are not in parliament. Here, too, the difference in the positions of the president and the prime minister was revealed: Medvedev did not say about Nemtsov that he plundered the country in the nineties together with Berezovsky, but only noted that the non-parliamentary politicians he listed were “treated differently.” However, he added that the main resource for Russian politics is “the resource of talented people. This is where future presidents, prime ministers and State Duma deputies are located.” So what happens: not only the leaders of the non-systemic opposition, but also the heads of factions are untalented people?

Speaking about crime and the fact that regional authorities are unable to fight it, Medvedev recalled that he signed a decree according to which the governor and law enforcement agencies would have to bear responsibility for what was happening in the regions and “could not move away”, say that they knew nothing . “Now let them gather every month and listen to each other under the protocol,” the president said. And in this case, if someone did not respond to the information, he will be fired.

Medvedev also spoke about the dismissal of Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov. According to the president, the latter was inattentive to Moscow and, instead of doing business, got carried away with PR and “political scams.” And if anyone subsequently loses the confidence of the president, he will also be fired.

It was interesting to listen to the heads of TV channels when Medvedev himself asked them whether they and their channels were free. Kulistikov said that he was free during all the years of his career as a journalist and in general only free people can engage in creativity, but there is an editorial policy that can be discussed. General Director of Channel One Konstantin Ernst said that freedom should be limited by moral considerations, cooperation with authorities and public structures, as well as the personal characteristics of managers and journalists, and in this the situation with television in Russia is no different from the situation in other major countries. And the general director of VGTRK Oleg Dobrodeev proclaimed that now there is generally the highest level of freedom on television compared to what it was - they say, in the 1990s, the head of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Gennady Zyuganov could not appear on television for years and Alexander Solzhenitsyn was not allowed on air for three years , - so he is offended to hear all sorts of arrogant assessments of television from people who do not understand what kind of work it is. Medvedev, after listening to them, admitted that they were right, but noted that there should be no gap between the list of important events that life formulates and those that are shown in the news. The break with the Internet and other media, in his opinion, should not be dramatic.

Saying goodbye, Medvedev congratulated viewers on the New Year and promised that he would do it again. “And you know when,” he added. If the president is referring to the New Year's address on December 31 before midnight, then this means that he will remain president of Russia for at least a week.