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Legal battle looms over Moscow mayor’s sacking

29 September 2010 18:40 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Federal investigators said on Wednesday they were probing allegations of corruption in the Moscow government under ex-mayor Yuri Luzhkov, sacked a day earlier after an escalating confrontation with the Kremlin, APA reports quoting â€œReutersâ€.
The investigators’ comments, carried by Russian news agencies, comprised the first official statement suggesting Luzhkov could face prosecution over claims of corruption during his 18-year-rule in the capital.
In another sign that Russia’s biggest political showdown in a decade could erupt into a legal battle, a close confidant of Luzhkov reportedly said the 74-year-old former mayor would contest his dismissal in court.
Medvedev dismissed Luzhkov by decree on Tuesday, seeking to impose his authority after the veteran mayor targeted him with criticism and then defied pressure to resign.
State television paved the way for Luzhkov’s ouster with programs portraying the mayor and his construction magnate wife as corrupt. But Medvedev did not mention corruption on Tuesday, saying only that he had "lost trust" in the mayor.
The Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor General’s Office is conducting inquiries based on allegations of graft in Luzhkov’s administration, a spokesman told news agencies.
"Probes are continuing ... into alleged corruption-related crimes by a number of officials in the Moscow government," state-run RIA quoted the spokesman, Vladimir Markin, as saying.
Markin said the probes, based on claims by "citizens including representatives of political parties," had begun before Luzhkov’s dismissal. He did not mention Luzhkov by name.
But the business daily Kommersant cited unnamed sources as saying both the Investigative Committee and investigators with the Interior Ministry were looking into allegations of "illegal actions" by Luzhkov and his wife, Yelena Baturina.
ECHOES OF SOVIET-ERA PURGE ATMOSPHERE
Kremlin-allied politicians have pelted Luzhkov with criticism, evoking the public denunciations of Soviet-era political purges, and he has made no public comment since his firing. But his close friend, Iosif Kobzon, a famous singer, told the Interfax news agency he had vowed a court battle.
As mayor, Luzhkov won a number of libel suits. But a legal complaint now would put him at the mercy of a court system that government critics say both he and the Kremlin have used to further their political and economic aims.
Luzhkov’s ouster opens the door for the Kremlin to tighten control over Moscow -- Russia’s financial powerhouse with a 1.1 trillion rouble ($36.7 billion) budget -- and to rein in Baturina’s property empire.
Her construction company, Inteko, is one of Moscow’s biggest. Baturina and Luzhkov have denied allegations that the company received preferential access to Moscow projects because of their relationship.
For Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who was president in 2000-08 and appointed Luzhkov to his last term, prosecuting Luzhkov over corruption claims would raise the question of why the state did not act earlier.
Luzhkov was a longtime leader of Putin’s ruling United Russia party, and developed Moscow into a showcase of the oil-fueled economic boom that defined Putin’s presidency.
"A lot depends on what happens next. The Luzhkov affair has not ended. He has a national image, a lot of money. He could choose not to go quietly, said Yevgeny Minchenko, director of the Moscow-based International Institute of Political Analysis.
"The Kremlin has created a powerful enemy," he said.
Luzhkov’s term was to expire next June, and analysts say the Kremlin wanted to give a successor time to ensure a strong vote for United Russia in parliamentary elections later in 2011.
Medvedev appointed Luzhkov ally Vladimir Resin as acting mayor and is to choose a new mayor from a list of candidates proposed by United Russia.
Putin, who has hinted he may return to the Kremlin at the next election in 2012, made clear on Tuesday that will have a say in the decision of who leads Moscow, a city of 10.5 million.