MOSCOW – Russia’s top prosecutor announced Wednesday that a suspected suicide bomber bribed her way onto one of two airliners that crashed nearly simultaneously in August – and that both suspected bombers were considered suspicious before boarding the planes but the police officer responsible for searching them failed to do so.
Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov also stressed that corruption is a nationwide problem.
Ustinov’s comments could be seen as lending support to a plan announced Monday by President Vladimir Putin to change electoral laws in a way that would enhance his own power and the Kremlin’s control of the country.
Putin’s proposal would replace the elected heads of Russia’s 89 regions with presidential appointees, subject to confirmation by regional legislatures, and eliminate independent legislators from the lower house of parliament. With pro-Putin parties dominating both houses of parliament, passage of the proposed laws seems to be assured.
In announcing the plan, Putin said it was needed because the security of citizens could not be assured without enhancing the government’s ability to address “the entire range of problems facing the country.”
The plan has met with statements of concern from U.S. officials, including President Bush, who urged Putin to uphold the “principles of democracy.”
“I’m also concerned about the decisions that are being made in Russia that could undermine democracy in Russia,” Bush said during remarks to a Hispanic heritage reception at the White House. “Great countries, great democracies have a balance of power between central government and local governments, a balance of power within central governments between the executive branch and the legislative branch and the judicial branch. As governments fight the enemies of democracy, they must uphold the principles of democracy.”
In the case of the Aug. 24 airplane crashes, Prosecutor General Ustinov said that a go-between paid $34 to a Sibir Airlines official to help get a suspected terrorist get on the flight that she allegedly blew up.
The airline official has been arrested, he said.
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