Statements of Support (2003-2013) / Beck, Marieluise

“Today’s verdict is a fatal signal. The assurances from President Medvedev on the importance of the rule of law remain mere rhetoric. The steered democracy was an invention of then-President Putin. It has now been publicly supplemented by Prime Minister Putin by the steered judiciary. Who, in Russia, dares to oppose the Kremlin or acts responsibly with his economic power is at the mercy of this controlled judiciary. The Kremlin ignores the call for rule of law and investment security. Not just the people in Russia itself, but also its Western partners are affected. But without freedom rights, democratic control, protection of property rights and rule of law there can be no modernization of Russia”

Marieluise Beck MEP (Green Party), Spokesperson for Eastern European Affairs, December 2010