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A BRITISH PEER has stepped down from the House of Lords after footage emerged of him allegedly snorting cocaine off a prostitute.
Police are looking into footage, published by The Sun, showing John Sewel (69) partying naked with two women and snorting a white powder.
He is seen using a £5 note to apparently snort a line of the alleged drug off one of the women’s breasts.
Scotland Yard said it had executed a search warrant at an address in central London but had made no arrests.
In the video, Sewel is heard discussing the allowance he gets as a peer and telling the two women:
It’s not (for) lunch, luvvie darling — it’s paying for this.
He gave the women a £200 cheque each.
Sewel resigned as deputy speaker of the upper house, and yesterday announced he would be going on an unpaid leave of absence pending an investigation.
In a statement this morning, Sewel said that he would be stepping down from the House of Lords.
“The question of whether my behaviour breached the Code of Conduct is important, but essentially technical,” he said.
The bigger questions are whether my behaviour is compatible with membership of the House of Lords and whether my continued membership would damage and undermine public confidence in the House of Lords. I believe the answer to both these questions means that I can best serve the House by leaving it.
“I want to apologise for the pain and embarrassment I have caused.”
Sewel, who will remain as a lord, added that he hopes his resignation will “limit and help repair” any damage to the reputation of the House of Lords.
A former lecturer, Sewel has been a member of the House of Lords since 1996 and served as a junior minister in the Scotland office under the Labour government of prime minister Tony Blair.
In his committee chairman role, he wrote on the Huffington Post news website on July 16 that the Lords had just agreed stronger sanctions for misbehaviour.
“The actions of a few damage our reputation. Scandals make good headlines,” he wrote.
“The requirement that members must always act on their personal honour has been reinforced.”
He even wrote about “members caught in sting operations by journalists” being found guilty of breaking the code.
Additional reporting © AFP 2015.
A friend once educated me on the reality that when a goverenment wants to distract its citizens it creates an enemy. Putin is under pressure for his lack of social justice .so what does he do creates fear .
Jesus Christ, look at the war on communism, the war on drugs, the war on terror and now back to Russia again, all manufactured by the military industrial complex, wake up and smell the bloody roses will ya, Washington are masters at manipulating the people into believing this shite.
Everything is America’s fault.
Thanks for letting us know!
‘Everything is America’s fault.’ A lot of the blame for this mess is.Have a listen to the Nuland phone call.
No it’s Americas fault, its the military industrial complex fault as i said in my comment.
Everything is America’s fault.”
- No not everything – just most of the worlds Terrorism – and the present situation in Ukraine – why did Biden and Mc Cain go there to encourage this fascist led govt .??
This is part 1 of a 2 part private investigation into the Maidan massacre, a very interesting 20 min video that explains the events of Feb. 20th and tears apart the corporate media version of events that the Berkut fired on unarmed activists, a must watch for anyone following the events if you have the 20mins to spare:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=668_1399131016
The comment is now only 20 mins old and received 7 red thumbs, shows the unwillingness and ignorance of some to not even look at the video posted, they’d rather believe what the corporate media tells them?
19 red thumbs now.
Ahh Declan, not that I really give a rats about thumbs, but did you watch the video?
Re Joe
I bookmarked it but I’ll watch it now before I watch the latest episode of Sputnik.
Joe – it’s very interesting to see an alternative viewpoint on those events, and the video does raise some interesting questions with regard to what was portrayed on Western media – however, even though the narrator avoids hysterical outrage, and makes his point calmly, it would be irresponsible to declare the version of events described in your link as Gospel. As always, the truth is probably somewhere in between.
Good video – but are people ready for in depth news like that – I doubt it . They prefer 7 second sound bites – and then wonder why the politicians and bankers walk all over them .
The US is biggest Terrorist state on planet – and there is plenty evidence – which has been put here showing McCain encouragement of the Fascists – and Bidens visit – but these events do not appear a lot in mainstream ” news ” .
US has many factories/corporations in this little tax haven called Ireland – . This is what they call ” soft power” – and it works .
Its obvious they want a civil war in Ukraine – but as Orwell said ” if u control the media/present -
— u control the past – if u control the past – u control the future ”
I agree Watcher, it’s just a little worrying when a news channel like BBC or any other can show a little more than 2 clips completely out of context of what’s likely a few hours of events leading up to these shootings and people fall for it hook line and sinker, as I said on the last article when I posted this link up I felt it was high impact but very low on substance and was suspicious about it for that reason.
PS – in Nulands ”#uck the EU phone call ” she also said Turchynov is our man ” –
-This is a matter of record – yet thye still try to blame anyone but US for what is happening
It certainly is an interesting video, but there are some issues with it. Like how the maker claims that Maidan protesters were throwing grenades yet the footage is not consistent with grenade detonations. He also makes the claim that only because the Maidan protesters had firearms did the Berkut respond, something which cannot be verified as none of the evidence really says who brought firearms to the table first.
Still, food for thought.
I watched the video yesterday and I wondered whether the term ‘grenade’ was a mistranslation as the footage showed what looked like a petrol bomb being thrown when the word was used in the commentary.
As an overall observation, the director certainly succeeded in his goal of showing that Berkut were firing at armed demonstrators in the clips shown, but this still doesn’t explain how all the unarmed demonstrators got killed, particularly when independent journalists who were at the scene reported that the shots were being fired from Berkut lines.
Glad I built my underground bunker, it’s almost complete and will sustain 3 people for about 6 months. I have space for 2 more, not sure who to pick as the space is fairly small
Pick Mick and Jason!
Where is Mick?Seems to have gone missing lately.Maybe the KGB got a hold of him.
I’m sure he’s havin a laugh with the comrades.
He changed his profile photo. He was dressed like one of the Ukrainian fascist thugs but seems to have dressed down to normal CIA photo lol
It must be obvious even to the most blinkered person that there is massive resistance in the East and South to the coup installed cabel in Kiev
Despite the fact that all public polls have indicated that support for joining Russia in the east only sits at around 30%?
Public polls have indicated support for the illegal Kiev regime in the East is even less then that Jason.
I’m still waiting for someone to point out which Article or Articles in the Ukrainian Constitution (either the 2004 or 2010 version) make the current government ‘illegal’.
Cabal is the new watch word of the pro-Russian agenda in Ireland now. Along with: Fascist, Junta, Putsch, NATO expansion.
And ‘terrorist’ is the new watch word of the pro-Nato agenda.We could play this game all day.
Actually it was Russian TV who started calling the Maidan protesters “terrorists”. Indeed Putin was “protecting” Russia from “international terrorism” back in 1999 when he was justifying the destruction of Chechnya.
Something also unique about anti-Americans. When they claim 9/11 was a false flag and back it up with with spurious waffle, they ignore Ryazan. In Ryazan, Russia there was a series of bombings of apartments blocks blamed on Chechens. It turned out to be either directly organised or at the very least assisted by the FSB. The difference being that instead of spurious evidence, there was testimony from FSB insiders and Russian soldiers. And instead of the conspiracy nuts, whose only goal is to thrive on being “in the know” and being smarter than “sheeple”, the people who investigated Ryazan were respected journalists who only cared about the truth.
Watcher under 2010 constitution parliament required 333 votes to begin impeachment. They got 328. That’s why the current gov is illegal ie it’s executive head was illegally deposed.
Chechnya was about to become an Islamic sharia state within the boundaries of Russia. How that can be compared with Iraq which the US etc invaded based on a made up story is beyond me. The Chechens got a federal subject state within Russia. They cannot have a sharia state. It’s funny, the Egyptians elected Morsi fair and square. Didn’t last too long did he once he started at the Islamic lark? The idea that this is some kind of moral contest between west and East is incorrect. But the west has lost the moral high ground. And the US is risking the safety of everyone on this continent by recklessly prodding the Russians in Ukraine. The neocon doctrine lives on with Obama. The US policy is to isolate and demonise Russia so she can never be a constraint on US power as the USSR was. The US Ukrsinian takeover has blown up in her face and she cannot accept it. We may all pay a heavy price yet.
So do explain to us Riddle, why is it ok for Russia to force self-determination on a part of the Ukraine (among other areas) while violently cracking down on self-determination in their own country?
Riddle, would you be saying the same if the Party of Regions/Communist Party coalition retained power? In any case, even if we are to take the impeachment as failed, Yanukovich has through his own actions rendered himself unable to fulfil his duties, and in such a case, the Constitution specifies that those duties fall to the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, as is the current situation.
I suppose if Yanukovich feels strongly enough about it, he can head back to Kiev and reclaim his office.
Watcher we all know Yanukovitch ain’t coming back. Tell me though, as I actually respect your view, where you think this will end. From my view I see that Ysnukovitch was deposed in, shall we say, less than gentlemanly fashion. Ukraine promptly lost Crimea to Russia. Would you agree Crimea is gone for good? Do you agree the US has no intention of fighting a war with Russia over Ukraine? What do you think will happen? We know the Kiev gov is trying to suppress the separatists. Will they agree to increased autonomy for the eastern provinces? The only quite guy now is Putin.
Riddle, I think Ukraine needs to accept Crimea as gone. Perhaps they can retain a constitutional claim as a form of protest, but they need to be realistic about it – so in order to avoid a NI Troubles type situation, they might need bite the bullet as Ireland did, and abandon any International claim, while still reserving the right to re-incorporate it in the future, should the majority require it.
As for the East – Kiev is going to be slow to increase autonomy, given how they were betrayed in Crimea, but it would, if possible, be the best option, in my opinion. We’ll have to see who gets elected at the end of the month.
I’ve posted before about how the US, EU and Russia all have differing notions regarding Ukraine’s future. The US want Ukraine to come West, and put a new Iron Curtain along their Eastern border. The EU (“Fugg the EU”, remember) want an EU-oriented Ukraine with trade ties to Russia.
This ‘dotted line’ is the US’s worst nightmare – Ukraine as a bridge between Russia and the EU, Russia as a bridge between EU/Ukraine and China.
Russia need to protect their military tech, which is still developed to a large extent in Ukraine – probably not too bothered about Ukraine in the EU as such, but seriously concerned about the EU being a stepping stone to NATO – that’s a serious no-no – imagine NATO having access to the tech that guides their missiles, navigates and operates their rockets, subs, ships and jets.
On the other hand, the potential cost of invading Eastern Ukraine is too high. I posted earlier on the risks Putin would face in that case – but still, in order to maintain some Russian influence in Ukraine, he needs to make the right noises, so that when the Separatists are suppressed, he can applaud and say “Jolly good effort, guys – we can try again later” and maintain credibility.
The best outcome for all Ukrainians, I fear, is now beyond reach – polarisation has kicked in. Ukraine (and Belarus, also) should ideally straddle the fence and form an economic link between EU and Russia – but, as above, the US cannot allow that to happen. I hope I’m wrong on this front, as Ukraine could very quickly stabilise with the help of both the EU and Russia, and prosper.
Actually, a delegation from Ireland/NI/UK might not be a bad idea, to de-escalate the situation. Probably more effective than OSCE, who are too closely aligned with NATO. On the other hand, in October Jens Stoltenberg is taking over as head of NATO, so if we can all hold on till then….
It may be an issue whether the government in Kiev is democratic or not, but it is an issue for the people of Ukraine. Russia May be next door, but it is a different country and what Russia is doing would be no different then the UK using a segment of the Irish public revolting against the Dublin Government as an excuse for annexing parts of Ireland.
There is actually no issue – the previous incumbent government have accepted the legitimacy of the current government, and offered NO resistance to voting them into power. Says an awful lot, really.
Watcher excellent analysis. Totally agree on the NATO issue, red line for russia all along.
Jason its only 15.4% eastern support for joining Russia. http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-05-05/why-putins-ukrainian-new-russia-could-be-an-ungovernable-mess
It’s no joking matter that Ukranian’s have to stand up and fight for their land, because if they don’t then the whole of Europe is staring the Russian army in the face. I wouldn’t like to see a war over all of Europe but it has happened before and I wouldn’t trust Putin to try it again as the Russian economy faces more sanctions.
Russia is trying to carve up Ukraine in the same way Hitler carved up Czechoslovakia.
Only a matter of time for Russia to role into town and sort this mess out.
Facts: Curent government is not democratically elected
Curent government is attacking its own people.
Russia back is against the wall as Nato is almost in its front yard which is unacceptable.
America is making things worse by trying unsuccessful to make Russia the bad guy
You should change your name to Hammer and Sickle
‘Russia’s back is to the wall’
Yeah right..
You are an idiot if you dont see America end game here ..
lol.
That’s all your comment warrants, three letters.
That’s my real name. I don’t hide my name like u! Unless your parents had sick imagination!!?
@ Vlad : very good article
As I stated at the beginning of this crises ,one of the main reasons behind the turmoil is the driving of a wedge between Russia and Europe. Angela Merkel visited Washington on Friday to discuss the current problem in Ukraine among other problems She is under enormous pressure from German business leaders , Siemans, VW. Mercedes, EON etc, not to allow German industrial interests be sacrificed to USA Geopolitical and Wall Street interests.
Angela Merkal coming from the former East Germany knows only to well what Russia is capable of. Germany post WW2 is almost totally dependent on NATO for its defence can swim with the fish but could get eaten by the sharks.
For people who don’t believe how strong the right sector are in this conflict, this 10 minute clip may give some insight. : Ukraine crises caught on Camera. This you will not see on BBC.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKuDzXAgdf4
Vlad, Padraic – that article is no more than an opinion piece riddled with factual inaccuracies and deliberate mis-statements. That said, however, it is blatantly clear that the EU and US are not entirely on the same page re Ukraine. I am of the opinion that the EU feels that the US solution to this crisis is a compromise, which can later be built on.
On the other hand, Ukraine’s military R&D industry supplies Russia with a lot of its high-end military technology, and Putin needs to protect that – but to do so by military force would mean pushing a lot further West than may be comfortable (he would need to secure Dnepropetrovsk and Zaporizhia, at a minimum, and that far West, he doesn’t have the same level of pro-Russian sentiment as in the Donbass).
He seems to have gotten away with annexing Crimea, but if he were to move on Eastern Ukraine, he would be raising the possibility of making the likes of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Krygryzstan very nervous, and disrupting his plans for Central Asia. In addition, a protracted military action in Ukraine may inspire the likes of Moldova, Chechnya and Georgia to open up new fronts.
It reminds me of the filmed crissis in Chechniya which showed Russian tanks destroying a hospital killing everyone and using their track vehicles to crush fallen bodies into the muddy ground until they were no longer recognisable.
The militants are not “their own people” but Russian terrorists.
So americas allowed to invade any country it wants around the world (for oil)? But Russia is not allowed to go across the border too rescue russian speaking citizens that are been attacked? fair play to putin if u ask me nice to see someone stand up to the yanks cant be one rule for one and one rule for another.
Re David
Well said. It’s the utter hypocrisy of it all and the utter stupidity of the majority of people who believe what their told from the media that gets me.
“So Americas allowed to invade any country it wants around the world (for oil)?” That myth has been doing the rounds for years now. Now that the U.S. has withdrawn from Iraq, the conspiracy theory that they wanted Iraqi oil has finally been put to rest. Unfortunately there are STILL some people out there that think otherwise.
Iraq recently struck a deal with China to sell oil to them:
And they are selling to India as well:
archive.indianexpress.com/news/india-proposes-10yr-oil-deal-with-iraq/1159331/
“rescue russian speaking citizens that are been attacked” Do you really think Putin cares for Russian speaking people? If that is the case why doesn’t he protect gay and bisexual people IN Russia that are constantly being harassed and attacked:
Another issue in his Russia is alcoholism. People are drinking themselves to death in the country, yet he doesn’t bat an eyelid for this issue:
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-25961063
So Putin using Insurgents in Ukraine is him standing up to the yanks? You don’t think the people of Ukraine have the right to live a peaceful life? What do you expect the Ukrainians to do, just sit there and allow Putin and his cronies to annex region after region? If the shoe was on the other foot, do you think Putin would do the same? Obviously not, just look at how he deals with Chechnya and Dagestan.
As others have mentioned before, All Putin is doing is trying to distract from the abysmal economic record:
http://www.theguardian.com/business/economics-blog/2014/apr/30/russian-economy-turn-for-the-worse
And this was happening long before sanctions were imposed on the country.
Sooner or later this is going to come to an end but it should have never happened to begin with. All Putin had to do was keep his lapdog Yanukovych on a tight leash, yet he failed to do so.
“So Americas allowed to invade any country it wants around the world (for oil)?” That myth has been doing the rounds for years now. Now that the U.S. has withdrawn from Iraq, the conspiracy theory that they wanted Iraqi oil has finally been put to rest. Unfortunately there are STILL some people out there that think otherwise.
Iraq recently struck a deal with China to sell oil to them:
nytimes.com/2013/06/03/world/middleeast/china-reaps-biggest-benefits-of-iraq-oil-boom.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&
And they are selling oil to India as well:
archive.indianexpress.com/news/india-proposes-10yr-oil-deal-with-iraq/1159331/
“rescue russian speaking citizens that are been attacked” Do you really think Putin cares for Russian speaking people? If that is the case why doesn’t he protect gay and bisexual people IN Russia that are constantly being harassed and attacked:
dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2551767/Footage-horrific-beatings-humiliation-suffered-gay-lesbians-hands-homophobic-Russian-gangs-emerges-days-country-hosts-winter-Olympics.html
Another issue in his Russia is alcoholism. People are drinking themselves to death in the country, yet he doesn’t bat an eyelid for this issue:
bbc.com/news/health-25961063
So Putin using Insurgents in Ukraine is him standing up to the yanks? You don’t think the people of Ukraine have the right to live a peaceful life? What do you expect the Ukrainians to do, just sit there and allow Putin and his cronies to annex region after region? If the shoe was on the other foot, do you think Putin would do the same? Obviously not, just look at how he deals with Chechnya and Dagestan.
As others have mentioned before, All Putin is doing is trying to distract from the abysmal economic record:
theguardian.com/business/economics-blog/2014/apr/30/russian-economy-turn-for-the-worse
And this was happening long before sanctions started.
Sooner or later this is going to come to an end but it should have never happened to begin with. All Putin had to do was keep his lapdog Yanukovych on a tight leash, yet he failed to do so.
Ohh very sorry liam they invaded Iraq for weapons of mass destruction (that didnt exist) my mistake but settled for oil and gold. Was it Libya or Afghanistan for oil ? They have so much going on I get very confused my bad but fair play to u cause u seem to be well educated on these matters …. nsa
@ Liam
That’s the list of country’s America has attacked since 2WW ended:
1. China (1945-1946) 2. Korea (1950-1953) 3. China (1950-1953) 4. Guatemala (1954) 5. Indonesia (1958) 6. Cuba (1959-1960) 7. Guatemala (1960) 8. Congo (1964) 9. Peru (1965) 10. Laos (1964) 11. Viet Nam (1961-1973) 12. Cambodia (1969-1970) 13. Guatemala (1967-1969) 14. Granada (1983) 15. Lebanon (1984) 16. Libya (1986) 17. El Salvador (1980) 18. Nicaragua (1980s) 19. Panama (1989) 20. Iraq (1991-1999) 21. Sudan (1998) 22. Afghanistan (1998) 23. Yugoslavia (1999) 24. Afghanistan (2001) 25. Iraq (2003) 26. Libya (2011)
I believe it’s quite obvious who is aggressor in modern world!!
So many wrongs its hard to start.
Iraq as soon as it went to Chinese Al Qaida took Falloudja and Ramadi. A little before Kurds struck a deal with Turks and started to sell their own oil. And a little fact: America withdrew from Iraq just like the Soviets from Afghanistan – because it lost! To whom? To Iran of course. Iran-Iraq-Syria-Libanon are now a local axis fighting regional war against Arab monarchies backed by the US. But that’s another story. Back to Ukraine..
In Ukraine there is a proxy war between US and RF. Ukrainians and local Russians are just cannon fodder and colateral victims. US actually brought the war within Russias doorstep after being blocked and outmaneuvered in Syria. Having a US 6th fleeet in Sevastopolj (after Ukraine joining NATO) would be end of Russia even as a regional power. Then US could come back to ME and finish with the Iranians (and their shia Crescent alies) once and for all. Simple as that.
And the list of conflicts involving Russia:
Estonia/Latvia/Lithuania (1944-56); Korea (1950-53); Hungary (1956); Vietnam (1960-75); Czechoslovakia (1968); War of Attrition (Israel/Egypt 1969-70); Eritrea (1974-1990); Ethio-Somali War (1977-78); Afghanistan (1979-89); Transnistra (1992); East Prigorodny (1992); Tajikistan (1992-97); Georgia (1993); Chechnya I (1994-96); Dagestan (1999); Chechnya II (1999-2009); Georgia (2008); North Caucasus (2009).
Not exactly pacifist, either. Plus, this list does not include UN-mandated missions Russia may have contributed to, although the US list above, clearly includes some UN missions.
Brilliant u cant argue with facts
@ Watcher
I’m not saying that Russia is pacifist! But it nowhere near USA on the aggression scale, however western “free and independent” media paint Russia exceptionally in dark colours when America is brining peace and freedom around the world!
By the way Estonia/ Latvia/ Lithuania were part of USSR at that time and Chechnya is part of Russian Federation so this were internal, local conflicts!
I’m aware of those conflicts being effectively internal, Vlad, and I wasn’t planning on getting into the technicalities – but, for example, you list Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia as being ‘attacked’ by the US, when in fact the governments of those countries requested US intervention, and it was one conflict rather than 3 separate wars.
Also, as I said above, you have included conflicts where the US was part of a UN-mandated mission, which, since Russia holds a UNSC veto, can be considered to have Russian approval, even if no Russian boots were on the ground.
Level playing field and all that.
…and regarding Chechnya – it is now, since the invasion of 1999…
@ Watcher
Just for your record, Chechnya was never granted independence by Russia that’s in fact why the war happened! By your logic Donetsk and all eastern Ukraine are independent now??! Fighting for it and having it is a bit different! What actually Chechnya got at the end is federalisation exactly what people of Eastern Ukraine asking for!
Re LDPR, while party describes itself as centrist and reformist, it is usually regarded as far-right due to its charismatic leader! Who has a long tongue that’s for sure, but LDPR activists not running around Moscow beating and abusing people just because they are not Russians!
http://youtu.be/ABdPiV1xf7o
“but LDPR activists not running around Moscow beating and abusing people just because they are not Russians!”
…says you.
“The LDPR’s interactions with the lunatic fringe has, at times, even included direct cooperation with openly neo-fascist individuals, like Viktor Yakushev, Sergei Zharikov, Eduard Limonov, Aleksey Vedenkin, Aleksei Batogov, or Nikolay Kuryanovich. Since 2004, Dmitry Rumyantsev, founder of the National Socialist Society, has been an assistant of Sergey Ivanov, member of the LDPR and State Duma. Rumyantsev is a convicted racist. In 2008, he has been given a one-year suspended sentence for hate speech while six members of his former organization were recently sentenced to life imprisonment for killing 28 “non-Russian” people.”
http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2011/11/07/vladimir-zhirinovsky-and-the-ldpr/
@ Watcher
I’m not following LDPR and not sharing their views! But if the facts u stated here are true and one member of parliament had an assistant who was involved in racism…! These people were persecuted and even got life terms as u stated below! Would u be able to find some facts on Right Sector activists being persecuted and sentenced to life in Ukraine!??
Vlad – please don’t misunderstand – I was not accusing you of supporting LDPR. I was making the point that if we can label the Kiev government “fascist”, then by the same definition we can apply the same label to the government in Russia.
As for Right Sector – we’ll have to wait and see if any of their members were among those arrested in Odessa, and if so, it certainly will be interesting to see how any found guilty are sentenced.
On Chechnya – “Chechnya was never granted independence by Russia” – reminds me of somewhere else…where could that be? Oh, yes – Crimea was never granted independence by Ukraine…
Crimea voted to join Russia as did Chechnya back in 2003! ( On March 23, 2003, a new Chechen constitution was passed in a referendum. The 2003 Constitution granted the Chechen Republic a significant degree of autonomy, but still tied it firmly to the Russian Federation and Moscow’s rule. The new constitution went into force on April 2, 2003).
Crimea, as a Ukrainian autonomous republic had no legal right to vote to join Russia. Chechnya tried to leave Russia in 1991, and declared independence in 1993. From 1996 to 1999, Chechnya was de facto independent under the terms of the ceasefire. Interestingly, under the ceasefire agreement, the final details of independence and the status of Ichkeria were to be decided in 2001. But then the actions of some Dagestani Muslims in 1999 prompted Russia to invade Chechnya.
@ Watcher
It’s not correct to compare Kiev government and Russian government this days! The current Kiev government came to power as a result of unconstitutional turnover, riots and 80+ casualties among civilians!
As for Right Sector being persecuted for massacre in Odessa I personally doubt it! Kiev already put the blame on police chief and started looking for Russian trace. Let’s wait and see but mark my words, people really involved in those killing will mainly escape!
@ Watcher
A constitution was adopted in March 1992. The constitution was semi-presidential. It is unclear how long the constitution was even nominally operational. In April 1992 President Dudayev began to rule by decree and in June 1993 parliament was dissolved.
Following the First Chechen War and the Second Chechen War, the constitution was not in force due to the political and social catastrophic situation in the Republic.
…also interesting is that the Chechen constitution was adopted in 2003, and yet the war rumbled on for six more years…I guess not everyone liked the new constitution…
Obviously not everyone! But show me the country where everyone is happy with their constitution! ( except USA of course ) ;)
Sorry, Vlad – while I’ll acknowledge technical legal issues around Yanucovich’s impeachment (which are de facto irrelevant, because he has fled the country), the turnover of the government was perfectly legal as per the Ukrainian laws and constitution. In 2010 the second Tymoshenko government lost power to the first Azarov government by the exact same mechanism as we saw at the end of February. In this regard, both versions of the constitution differ only slightly. The 2004 version allows unaligned individuals to make up part of the coalition, while the 2010 version requires that individuals must group together into a bloc or faction.
@ Watcher
As for Crimea had no legal right to vote neither did Kosovo back in 2008!
What happened in the former Yugoslavia was a cluster-fugg. Kosovo might well have been better off as an autonomous republic, but I guess old wounds fester…
:)
“The turnover of the government perfectly legal” come on, are u serious ?? For me perfectly legal are elections, votes not turnovers! And by the way turnovers and revolutions are exactly what Ukrainian leaders succeeded in in recent decade instead of doing their job and make people’s life better!
Unfortunately we are living in the world full of double standards! What’s ok for some country’s and theirs interests is not ok for the others! When u starting playing this dangerous games u have to think of consequences otherwise it will bite u back some day! ;)
Vlad – it matters little what you or I think. As I pointed out, the rules and laws governing the Verkhovna Rada allow for shifting coalitions within the five-year terms of the elected deputies. All that’s needed is a majority coalition. Lose the support of your coalition partners, pack up and move to the opposition benches – that’s how it works in Ukraine. Here in Ireland, if the ruling coalition falls apart, the Dail is dissolved, and elections happen. In Russia, there is no such thing as opposition benches, the entire Duma is the government, administered by a series of committees. Different strokes for different folks… but yeah – turning over a coalition is not only legal, but specifically dealt with in the constitution(s)
The fact is that there was no need in all those casualties on Maidan. Yanukovych wouldn’t survive another elections which were due in less than a year. But corrupted, inpatient and hungry for power Kiev Junta pushed for those actions and now the got what they got… All this blood is totally on their hands but what surprises me most is European blind support for this actions!
“Unfortunately we are living in the world full of double standards….”, etc. – On this, we agree. That’s the whole point I’ve being trying to make on here – both sides are as bad as each other. Ukraine, like every other country has its fair share of lunatic hate-filled thugs, and like many other countries, some of them are even in government. That’s the downside of democracy – people you disagree with get elected by people you don’t like…
They are terrorists from Russia not locals.
Vlad the Chechen referendum was rigged like all votes under Putin
No mention of the 10 people shot dead by Right Sector neo nazis in a village on the outskirts Slavyansk..
Probably because RT reports it as having happened on Friday night, and a lot more has happened since.
Curiously, RT ran an opinion piece on Friday lunchtime entitled “Sooner or later Kiev’s army, Right Sector will attack civilians”.
Did the Journal post an article about it?I don’t seem to remember one.If it had been Eastern separatists who had shot 10 people dead,the outrage from Western media would have been deafening.The double standards on this Ukranian situation is sickening and also sinister.. Mainstream Western media has disgraced itself.
I think it may have been overshadowed by the horror of what happened in Odessa, plus the wildly differing reports coming from Slavyansk have probably damaged the credibility of the story – RT are reporting 10 dead, a spokeswoman in Slavyansk is claiming 40, and video evidence is of one dead body. It’s hard to tell what is actually happening.
Relying on RT for news of Ukraine would be like trying to understand Northern Ireland in the late 60s and 70s by only watching BBC news.
Agreed, Picasso, but relying solely on RTE would have been equally dangerous
That image above looks like a screenshot of Armed Assault 3.
I can see the pixels.
It seems people on here support the ‘Separatists’ because they see them, in a round about way, as opposing the US rather than tearing their own country apart
That’s it Rian, they want to blame every single wrong in the world on the US no matter who the aggressor is.
The same argument could be made against the Maidan demonstrations that descended into mob violence,death and destruction.The situation in the East is a reaction to what happened in Kiev.One would not have occurred without the other.
All goes back to Yanukovich and his unilateral, unmandated U-turn, then…
I have been away for a day or two. Does anyone know the angle on the Chechyan gunmen with the anti Kiev protesters? I thought the Chechyan gunmen were Islamists(radical)?
Why are the anti Kiev protesters being called ‘insurgents’? The same type of people in Syria are called’ freedom fighters ‘ or’ rebels’. The refusal of the Mainstream media to lay the blame for Odessa massacre at the right wing radicals in Ukraine tells us exactly where the West’s geopolitical interests lie.
We know some of the self defense squads are genuine Ukrainians who have major grievances with the coup and subsequent IMF deal. It is also evident that Russia has special forces in the East of Ukraine laying the groundwork for a possible invasion by Russia. It is also evident that Russia is assisting Ukrainians in their struggle against the coup just as the West is assisting the pro Western Ukrainians.
I am really surprised by looking at the comments how many people are falling for the Western media narrative so fully. While the Russian perspective, RT, is biased it is not to the same level as the Mainstream Media.
I would assume the Chechens are friends of Kadyrov, the Moscow puppet/mafia boss who is responsible for the disappearance of thousands in Chechnya, corruption on an unbelievable scale, and mass human rights abuses. They certainly are not Islamist Chechens. Nice to see you paint all Chechens as Islamists though. It really shows your ability to think beyond black and white.
The Islamists involved in the Chechen War were for the most part Dagestani rather than Chechen. It was the fact that they launched their ‘invasion’ of Dagestan from their exile in Chechnya that prompted the second Chechen War, rather than any direct action by the Chechen government (such as it was at the time).
I think it shows Russia has entered an unholy alliance to commit acts o terrorism in Ukraine. Maybe Russia hired Chechen suicide bombers to set fire to the building in Odessa to discredit the new Kiev govt.
Can someone please tell my why everyone is calling the new government in ukraine neo-nazies and fascists? I genuinly don’t know
Because it was a convenient sound-bite in the first days after the new government took over, in an attempt to discredit their legitimacy. It refers to the fact that the right-wing Svoboda party were included in the new coalition, even though they are only 36 of the 250 deputies in the new coalition. Not exactly nice people, but still not a significant enough faction to justify labelling the entire government.
@ Watcher
U forgot to mention that on top of Svoboda party siting in the parliament, current government recruit ultra right “Right Sector” thugs in to the National Army and sent them to kill their own citizens!!!
I didn’t forget, Vlad. It wasn’t the question that was asked. I also didn’t mention the 56 far-right ultranationalist LDPR deputies in the Russian State Duma.
I am not. Its Russian propaganda.
Thanks watcher I understand now .
When you shoot at your own army its treason and should result in dawn execution. But there are Russians doing it too. This means if they get a government cheque and follow instructions from that government I.e. Moscow then its act of war and Ukraine I think is totally justified in taking a guerilla war to Russia and using assassinations. There are rules in war that are followed. If as a state you don’t use a uniform of your state your a mercenary. Large scale such as this breaks all rules. Gloves come off then.
Dodgy connections of Donetsk separatist leader. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denis_Pushilin
Putin’s prosecutor in Crimea threatens to “liquidate” the Crimean Tatars. http://www.sptimes.ru/story/39779
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