Russia Moves to Decriminalize 'Unavoidable' Bribes

[Rogue Valley]

Russia Moves to Decriminalize 'Unavoidable' Bribes, Following Putin's Proposal

"unavoidable" bribes to be decriminalized in Putin's mafia state.

1/29/19
Russia’s Justice Ministry has proposed to stop punishing officials implicated in bribery or other acts of corruption under “exceptional circumstances” in new draft legislation, following a plan set by Russian President Vladimir Putin last year. Putin proposed the measure in an anti-corruption plan signed in July 2018 that called for legislation that would allow officials to escape prosecution for corruption under “exceptional circumstances.” Russia ranks among the world’s most corrupt countries, with Transparency International’s annual corruption perceptions index ranking it in 138th place this year out of 180 countries. The amendments drafted by the Justice Ministry seek to exempt officials from legal accountability when corruption is unavoidable. Ilya Shumanov, the deputy head of Transparency International Russia, told the publication that the amendments provide loopholes for officials to avoid responsibility. “There’s not a single rational explanation for the use of exceptional circumstances when an official couldn’t declare a conflict of interest,” Vedomosti quoted Shumanov as saying.

:rofl I have no idea what to say about this. I've never known a country where the bribery of government officials is officially legal.

 

[Bum]

Russia Moves to Decriminalize 'Unavoidable' Bribes, Following Putin's Proposal

"unavoidable" bribes to be decriminalized in Putin's mafia state.



:rofl I have no idea what to say about this. I've never known a country where the bribery of government officials is officially legal.

In Afghanistan its figured into the cost of everything.....consider it a cost of doing business fee.

 

[Rexedgar]

I have only visited St. Petersburg as part of a tour group, a few years ago. At the lowest level we witnessed the tour guide grease the palm of an official to get the bus into the parking lot at the old fortification.

We here in the US are hypocritical in this subject. The only ones that get charged are the greedy ones that are too public and clumsy with their graft, imo.

 

[marke]

Russia Moves to Decriminalize 'Unavoidable' Bribes, Following Putin's Proposal

"unavoidable" bribes to be decriminalized in Putin's mafia state.



:rofl I have no idea what to say about this. I've never known a country where the bribery of government officials is officially legal.

American government officials have received hundreds of millions of dollars from foreigners seeking their help in American business and political dealings, but here in America we call it "donations to charitable foundations."

 

[Doug1943]

American government officials have received hundreds of millions of dollars from foreigners seeking their help in American business and political dealings, but here in America we call it "donations to charitable foundations."

Or 'campaign contributions'.

 

[Evilroddy]

Russia Moves to Decriminalize 'Unavoidable' Bribes, Following Putin's Proposal

"unavoidable" bribes to be decriminalized in Putin's mafia state.



:rofl I have no idea what to say about this. I've never known a country where the bribery of government officials is officially legal.

Rogue Valley:

It's the Oligarchs United decision and is roughly (very roughly) equilavent to the US's Citizens United vs the FEC decision by the SCOTUS. The Russians are just less sophisticated about it and have adopted a bottom-up bribery structure rather than a top-down bribery structure. Both governments are corrupted (Russia more so) and both are interested in paving the way for more lucrative corruption if they can get away with it.

Cheers.
Evilroddy.

 

[Jetboogieman]

“Where it is unavoidable.”

Well, that’s an extremely clear line.

 

[Kobie]

“Where it is unavoidable.”

Well, that’s an extremely clear line.

Sorry, comrade, I just HAD to take that bribe.

 

[Rogue Valley]

Rogue Valley:

It's the Oligarchs United decision and is roughly (very roughly) equilavent to the US's Citizens United vs the FEC decision by the SCOTUS.

No. This isn't about political donations. This is sanctioning open bribes to government officials, from building code inspectors to traffic cops to governors.

 

[Evilroddy]

No. This isn't about political donations. This is sanctioning open bribes to government officials, from building code inspectors to traffic cops to governors.

Rogue Valley:

Tomatoes (American pronunciation), tomatoes (British pronunciation). Poison is still poison no matter which way you take it. Top-down or bottom-up, the money/contributions/bribes still corrupt any system that allows them to be legally conducted in it.

Cheers.
Evilroddy.

 

[Rogue Valley]

Rogue Valley:

Tomatoes (American pronunciation), tomatoes (British pronunciation). Poison is still poison no matter which way you take it. Top-down or bottom-up, the money/contributions/bribes still corrupt any system that allows them to be legally conducted in it.

Cheers.
Evilroddy.

Your distinction is flawed. The Supreme Court Citizens United decision legalizing corporate donations to political organizations is many orders of magnitude removed from a Supreme Court decision legalizing traffic cops shaking down motorists for bribes.

 

[Evilroddy]

Your distinction is flawed. The Supreme Court Citizens United decision legalizing corporate donations to political organizations is many orders of magnitude removed from a Supreme Court decision legalizing traffic cops shaking down motorists for bribes.

Rogue Valley:

I agree. Top-down corruption is many orders of magnitude more effective than bottom-up corruption and also causes less overt social friction. The USA is thus going about its own corruption with more sophistication and nuance than the Russians and is miles ahead in the graft-race.

It wasn't so long ago that you had to pay institutionalised bribes to American police and fire companies to be protected from crime and fire. American politicians realised that forcing American citizens to pay out such legal bribes caused anger and uncomfortable questions to be asked by citizens and the press. So the politicians thought hard and then switched over to higher taxation and nationalised the bribery scams, turning the police and fire companies into civil services. The same process happened with mandatory insurance programmes, drives' licenses, car registrations, etc. All had additional fees and mandatory regulations attached to them for the purpose of generating revenues for the graft machine. The politicians however liked their own bribes too much and kept that shakedown going even to the present day without nationalising it.

Cheers.
Evilroddy.

 

[sangha]

Is anyone surprised that right wingers are defending this as nothing unusual?

 

[Sampson Simpson]

Russia Moves to Decriminalize 'Unavoidable' Bribes, Following Putin's Proposal

"unavoidable" bribes to be decriminalized in Putin's mafia state.



:rofl I have no idea what to say about this. I've never known a country where the bribery of government officials is officially legal.

The US basically is, thanks to Citizen's United. corporations and rich people funding campaigns gets them special treatment

 

[Sampson Simpson]

Rogue Valley:

I agree. Top-down corruption is many orders of magnitude more effective than bottom-up corruption and also causes less overt social friction. The USA is thus going about its own corruption with more sophistication and nuance than the Russians and is miles ahead in the graft-race.

It wasn't so long ago that you had to pay institutionalised bribes to American police and fire companies to be protected from crime and fire. American politicians realised that forcing American citizens to pay out such legal bribes caused anger and uncomfortable questions to be asked by citizens and the press. So the politicians thought hard and then switched over to higher taxation and nationalised the bribery scams, turning the police and fire companies into civil services. The same process happened with mandatory insurance programmes, drives' licenses, car registrations, etc. All had additional fees and mandatory regulations attached to them for the purpose of generating revenues for the graft machine. The politicians however liked their own bribes too much and kept that shakedown going even to the present day without nationalising it.

Cheers.
Evilroddy.

Exactly, allowing bribes at the top has a hell of a lot of more impact than some guy bribing a cop to not get a ticket. T

 

[Rogue Valley]

Rogue Valley:

I agree. Top-down corruption is many orders of magnitude more effective than bottom-up corruption and also causes less overt social friction. The USA is thus going about its own corruption with more sophistication and nuance than the Russians and is miles ahead in the graft-race.

It wasn't so long ago that you had to pay institutionalised bribes to American police and fire companies to be protected from crime and fire. American politicians realised that forcing American citizens to pay out such legal bribes caused anger and uncomfortable questions to be asked by citizens and the press. So the politicians thought hard and then switched over to higher taxation and nationalised the bribery scams, turning the police and fire companies into civil services. The same process happened with mandatory insurance programmes, drives' licenses, car registrations, etc. All had additional fees and mandatory regulations attached to them for the purpose of generating revenues for the graft machine. The politicians however liked their own bribes too much and kept that shakedown going even to the present day without nationalising it.

Cheers.
Evilroddy.

The next time, create your own thread rather than hijack this one.

Cheers,
RV

 

[Evilroddy]

The next time, create your own thread rather than hijack this one.

Cheers,
RV

Rogue Valley:

That is a fair criticism and I shall try to do better. Apologies to you, sir.

Cheers.
Evilroddy.