Friday, October 20, 2006

Tell Vladimir Putin - Condoning Rape Is A Crime!

One has to wonder about someone who says that "they envy" an alleged rapist crimes. Is this part of Russian President past too?
"Greetings to your president. What a powerful man he turns out to be! He raped 10 women,". . . "I would never have expected this from him. He surprised us all. We all envy him.'' -- Vladimir Putin

Putin's Israel President Joke Doesn't Condone Rape, Office Says
By Sebastian Alison
Bloomberg - October 20, 2006

Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin joked about rape allegations leveled against Israeli President Moshe Katsav, a presidential spokesman said. This in no way means Putin approves such conduct, he said.

Putin joked about the rape allegations on Oct. 18 in a conversation in Moscow with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

``Greetings to your president. What a powerful man he turns out to be! He raped 10 women,'' Putin was reported as saying yesterday by Russian newspaper Kommersant. ``I would never have expected this from him. He surprised us all. We all envy him.''

Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Putin, confirmed today the newspaper's account was accurate. Peskov said the joke suffers in translation from the original Russian.

``Yes, these remarks were made indeed,'' Peskov said in a telephone interview from Moscow today. ``No one can seriously approve allegations of raping women and sexual assault. It's a joke in Russian that actually does not reflect the automatic translation into English.''

Israeli police said Oct. 16 they have evidence that supports allegations of rape, assault and sexual harassment against President Katsav. The president's attorney, Zion Amir, said the report has no legal standing.

Putin is due in Lahti, Finland today to meet European Union heads of state and government for discussions that will focus on energy cooperation.

Asked if Putin was embarrassed by the remarks about Katsav, Peskov replied, ``Frankly speaking, I don't know.''

Russia's president, the country's most popular politician, increased his standing in 1999 soon after becoming prime minister by threatening to pursue Chechen rebels wherever they may be, ``wasting them in the outhouse'' if necessary.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sebastian Alison in Lahti, Finland through the Moscow bureau at
Salison1@bloomberg.net .

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