JTA - 04.14.2004

Russian Official Canned

(JTA) - A local government official in Russia was fired after making anti-Semitic remarks about Russia’s new prime minister.

Vladimir Torbokov, deputy prime minister in charge of social issues in the eastern Russian region of Altai, was relieved of his duties April 5, soon after the local Postscriptum newspaper published Torbokov’s remarks about Mikhail Fradkov. “What kind of need is there in a country like Russia to bring in some barely known person from abroad for a government post, and an ethnic Jew at that,” Torbokov said of Fradkov, who was Russia’s envoy to the European Union before President Vladimir Putin picked him as prime minister last month. 

Fradkov, who Jewish leaders believe had a Jewish father, appears to be a practicing Orthodox Christian. On Sunday, he attended an Easter service at Moscow’s main Orthodox cathedral, and was shown repeatedly on national television standing next to Putin, holding a candle and crossing himself. 

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Gazeta - 04.09.2004

Gazeta.ru

Russian Official Canned

Altai official dismissed for anti-Semitic remarks

The governor of the internal Russian republic of Altai, Mikhail Lapshin, has dismissed his deputy prime minister, Vladimir Torbokov, on what Russian media allege are accusations of anti-Semitic comments. Local prosecutors have also launched an investigation into the comments, fearing they may qualify as provoking inter-racial discord. 

According to media reports, Vladimir Torbokov, in an interview with a local paper, spoke critically of the newly-elected Russian prime minister Mikhail Fradkov. Torbokov called Fradkov a “little-known individual of Jewish nationality,” and expressed his dismay that someone like this was appointed leader of the government. “What is the point of taking someone from aboard to appoint him to head the government of a nation like Russia? And of Jewish nationality at that? Isn’t there enough talk already about a global conspiracy?” 

The interview was published April 1 in the local paper Postscriptum. A source in the prosecutor’s office told the Kommersant newspaper that they are “investigating violations under articles 144 and 145 of the criminal code, for the possibility the statements may provoke interracial discord,” he said. “Psycho-sociological experts from an institute in Novosibirsk will determine the nature of the statements.” 

Meanwhile, a spokesman in the governor’s office told MosNews that the dismissal is not likely linked to the racial comments. “Everything was done lawfully. When Fradkov dismisses someone, does he have to give his reasons? No. And neither does Lapshin,” the spokesman told MosNews. “Yes, [Torbokov] did make certain statements to the press, where he expressed his dissatisfaction with the appointment of the new cabinet of ministers, but his dismissal probably doesn’t have anything to do with it.”

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