Police hunt for missing Putin rival

[Snazzy]

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=454454§ion=news

Police hunt for missing Putin rival
Sun 8 February, 2004 16:50

By Richard Ayton

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian police have launched a hunt for a political rival of President Vladimir Putin set to challenge him in forthcoming elections after his wife reported him missing since Thursday night.

Ivan Rybkin, a strong critic of Putin, is one of a finalised list of candidates for a March 14 election which Putin is widely expected to win easily, securing a second term in the Kremlin.

...


He is challenging Putin as an independent with the backing of exiled business magnate Boris Berezovsky, who accuses Putin of crushing independent media and duping public opinion in his drive against Chechen separatism.

...

On Thursday, the day he vanished, Rybkin publicly complained that officials from the general prosecutor's office had searched his Moscow offices, detained a key campaign worker and taken away computers.

....

Spooky.

[CheshireCat]

1. Sounds like Putin

has taken a cue from the Smirkista's on how to handle criticism.

don't like the sound of this one.