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    Back to To the Point

    To the Point

    Power and Amnesty in Putin's Russia

    Today brought the release of the two remaining members of the punk protest band Pussy Riot from Russian prison. President Vladimir Putin pardoned them as part of a mass amnesty of thousands of political activists, including Greenpeace protesters the Arctic 30 and oil oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

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    KCRW placeholderBy Barbara Bogaev • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

    Today brought the release of the two remaining members of the punk protest band Pussy Riot from Russian prison. President Vladimir Putin pardoned them as part of a mass amnesty of thousands of political activists, including Greenpeace protesters the Arctic 30 and oil oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky. It all comes just six weeks before the start of the Sochi Olympics. Are the pardons a move to counter international criticism of Russia's record on human rights, or is Putin responding to larger forces? As Russia celebrates the 20th anniversary of its constitution, we hear how the international community's uproar over LGBT rights is playing out in the Russian media and on the ground, and what the current sparring over the Olympics bodes for US-Russian relations.

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    Power and Amnesty in Putin's Russia
    1. 0:00Deadline Tonight to Sign up for Obamacare for January Start Date
    2. 8:47Power and Amnesty in Putin's RussiaYou’re reading this
    3. 43:27Identity Theft: How Companies Learn, Lose, Your Secrets
    • KCRW placeholder

      Barbara Bogaev

      radio journalist

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Evan George

      Director of Content, News

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Jenny Hamel

      KCRW

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Benjamin Gottlieb

      Reporter, Fill-in Host

    • KCRW placeholder

      Andrew S. Weiss

      Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

    • KCRW placeholder

      Sergei Guriev

      Paris Institute of Political Studies

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      Michael D. Weiss

      Daily Beast / The Interpreter

      NewsNationalPolitics

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    Power and Amnesty in Putin's Russia
    1. 0:00Deadline Tonight to Sign up for Obamacare for January Start Date
    2. 8:47Power and Amnesty in Putin's RussiaYou’re reading this
    3. 43:27Identity Theft: How Companies Learn, Lose, Your Secrets
    Back to To the Point