EXCLUSIVE - Corruption, links with the mafia, personal enrichment… The hidden face of Putin

Nicolas Tonev, edited by UP 6:58 p.m., February 25, 2022

Dozens of luxury watches on his wrist, some worth up to 400,000 euros, a huge property in northern Russia presented as his, a gigantic palace by the Black Sea estimated at one billion euros ... Since he became head of the Kremlin on January 1, 2000, Vladimir Putin has repeatedly been seen displaying outward signs of great wealth.

But how can the Russian president, who earns around 200,000 euros a year and has only made a career in the Russian civil service, afford such a lifestyle?

Europe 1 conducted the investigation.  

To find the beginning of an answer to the fortune of the current Russian president, we must go back to the early 1990s. From that time, suspicions of corruption weighed on him.

In 1991, when the Soviet system collapsed, the mayor of Saint Petersburg at the time, Anatoly Sobchak, asked him to become his deputy in charge of international relations.

Vladimir Poutine leaves the KGB, since become FSB [the Russian secret services, note], and would then have perfected the existing system to manage the city: corruption.  

Witnesses to the "Putin system" in Saint Petersburg  

Franz Sedelmayer, businessman 

From this era which saw the establishment of the "Putin system", Europe 1 found several witnesses, including Franz Sedelmayer.

The man currently lives in southern Germany and was brought in to work with the current Russian president.

In the early 1990s, he set up a security company in Saint Petersburg which trained the local police and supplied them with equipment.

A contract is signed under the patronage of Vladimir Putin, but very quickly the police try to expropriate the businessman.

"Guys came to see me six months after starting the business. They said they had plans for us, such as changing the managers of the box," he says.

"The idea, in fact, was to replace my men with theirs. I replied that as long as I was the president of the company, it would not be possible. We were partners, but it's me, the boss, who decided who worked or not in the box." 

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As to why the police were trying to expropriate him, Franz Sedelmayer retorts bluntly: "Our company was doing well and they were hoping to get their hands on it."

To solve this unexpected problem, the businessman then makes an appointment with the one he helped him to settle in, the deputy mayor of the city, a certain Vladimir Poutine.

A surprising encounter.  

"I went to see Putin and his reaction was unexpected. He replied that it was not his problem, nor that of the city", he recalls.

"Putin said he did not want to interfere in a dispute between business partners. And when I asked why, he clearly replied that he had enough work to do to protect the interests of the mayor vis -à-vis the administration. I then understood that very special working relationships existed in this city. Not as 'normal' as elsewhere, let's say..."

I then understood that very special working relationships existed in this city 

But Vladimir Poutine was not satisfied with this answer and would then have suggested to the young entrepreneur certain initiatives to remain owner of his company.

"We had to forge links with politicians in order to be able to survive in this market, to invest, and for that, I had to cultivate my relationship with Vladimir Poutine", relates Franz Sedelmayer.

Concretely, "I told him [Vladimir Putin] that we were not the enemies of the city, that we were friends and that we were ready to contribute to the city budget… Which we did." 

The businessman then sponsored a team for the 1994 Goodwill Games. of 1980 and 1984 by Washington and Moscow, editor's note] "We made a donation of more than a million dollars to the city of Saint Petersburg," he says. 

The omnipresent “Putin system” was not limited to obtaining corporate money by force.

The corruption that the former KGB officer in Saint Petersburg would have set up would also have developed to the detriment of the population.

This is in any case what emerges from the testimony of Andrei Korchagine, former elected official of the Russian capital. 

Andrei Korchagine, former elected representative of Saint Petersburg 

In 1991 Saint Petersburg, still reeling from the fall of the Berlin Wall, died of hunger.

Vladimir Putin is then responsible for supplying the city with food.

To fill the stores, a system is set up with foreign countries: raw materials such as oil or wood leave the country, and are exchanged for food.

Only problem, if the materials leave well, the food, it does not arrive.  

In 1992, after investigating the problems of illegally signed export licenses and the disappearance of funds, the official Boldyrev of the inspection of the administration recommended that Vladimir Putin be relieved of his functions and not be appointed to other positions before a full business review.

Credit: archives of Marina Salié, MP behind the first investigation directed against Vladimir Putin. 

Alerted by these dysfunctions, opposition deputies headed by Marina Salié set up a parliamentary commission of inquiry and discovered a system of fraud.

Raw materials are not exchanged but sold.

MPs and elected officials like Andrei Korchagine then seek to find out who benefits from the crime.

“What emerges from the answers given to the questions of the commission, it is the establishment of a system of fraud. And the fact that someone has enriched themselves considerably by organizing it”, details the ex-elected Crusader in London, where he enjoys the status of political refugee.   

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“The deputies accused Vladimir Putin of illegal machinations involving hundreds of millions of dollars. These were huge sums…” More precisely, the commission estimates the amount of the fraud at 900 million dollars.

On the documents that Europe 1 was able to consult, the conclusions are final.

"The comparative analysis of the prices indicated in the agreement testifies to the criminal nature of the conditions of the latter. […] Vladimir Putin […] refuses to present a whole set of documents, with the intention of hiding the truth about the situation Business." 

Obtaining the signature of such an important person on the smallest paper was absolutely impossible without paying

If Vladimir Putin's name is linked to this fraud, documents attached to the MPs' inquiry prove that he is directly involved.

These are export licenses that he himself signed when he had neither the right nor the power, explains Andrei Korchagine.

"He did it actively and with pleasure, because in those days getting the signature of such an important person on even the smallest paper was absolutely impossible without paying. And in such cases there was always envelopes and even suitcases full of money circulating. Because for this type of service, you had to pay in cash", argues the former aedile.

On the strength of these elements, the parliamentary inquiry was sent to Moscow.

The administration acknowledges receipt and officially requests in a document that Vladimir Putin be dismissed.

"He must be removed from his post and must no longer be entrusted with public responsibilities", can we read.

However, this recommendation remains unimplemented and Vladimir Putin remains deputy mayor of Saint Petersburg, proof of a system that came from above for Andrei Korchagin: "Committing such a crime is only possible with the support of the top of the state. And the people who did this, including comrade Putin, understood that they had support and that all these cases would be covered." 

Export document signed lower right by Vladimir Putin.

Credit: 

Kinichi Kamias, a "yakuza"

And the "administrative cover" from above is not the only protection that Vladimir Putin seems to have benefited from.

This is what confides a "yakuza", Kinichi Kamias, met in Sweden.

This member of Japanese organized crime, now repentant, agrees to give himself up.

The man, a specialist in gambling, arrives in Saint Petersburg to develop the casino business as a scout for the Japanese mafia.

In a photo dated October 1992, Kinichi Kamias appears alongside his Russian associates, Gennady Petrov, the head of the local mafia and his deputy, Sergei Kuzmin.

The Japanese immediately understands who he is dealing with: "I immediately saw that they were not normal people. They had their own hotels and bodyguards equipped like soldiers, with submachine guns to protect themselves. They came to pick me up themselves at the airport, and sometimes even with a bus. I asked: why a bus? And Gennadi said to me: 'Because in this city, I also control everything related to transport' . From what I understood, they controlled everything. So they could have all the permissions." 

The head of the mafia would have explained to Kinichi Kamias that the real master of the game would actually be the deputy mayor of the city, Vladimir Putin.

It is in particular he who authorizes the opening of casinos, he finally understands.

"They explained to me, finally Gennadi told me, that the authorizations came from Putin. I was surprised, I wondered why he also controlled the casinos. Maybe he wanted to do business..." 

Gennadi Petrov is then essential, because all those who wish to do business in the city go through him.

And for good reason, he would have a master asset for business-related authorizations: he would work hand in hand with the deputy mayor, Vladimir Putin.

As the weeks and months passed, Kinichi Kamias would even come to understand that between Vladimir Putin and Gennadi Petrov, there would be more than business, a friendship.

Over the years, the malpractices supposedly linked to Vladimir Putin end up attracting the attention of the police, and even of certain members of the Russian services.  

The first rebels

Andrei Zykov, St. Petersburg police officer 

If the various cases related to exports have been buried, they have aroused the curiosity of the local police.

Thus in the early 1990s, revolted by the extent of the system of corruption that is eating away at the city, Andrei Zykov, an inspector with the financial brigade of Saint Petersburg, and three of his colleagues began to investigate Vladimir Putin. .

An initiative supported by the Russian Interior Ministry which provides them with a specific status for their protection.

"We were given a special police card when we were investigating the criminal case around Putin, it allowed us not to be asked questions," he says.

"Because if we had said we were investigating him, our team would have been disbanded in 24 hours." 

The investigation will last eight years and allow to update what Andrei Zykov calls "a crime society".

It was discovered that virtually the entire St. Petersburg City Hall was actually a criminal society, especially the part headed by Vladimir Putin.

There was a system of bribes in apartments.

And to make the system work, they had created a society that allowed them to corrupt a lot of people: the heads of local governments, the prosecutors, the judges... 

But in 1999, Andrei Zykov was fired from the St. Petersburg police.

Vladimir Putin has become the boss of the FSB, the investigation is buried. 

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Alexander Litvinenko, former FSB officer  

Another rebel, Alexander Litvinenko.

This former FSB officer turned whistleblower was the first to denounce in the early 2000s the widespread system of corruption that dates back to the presidency.

A refugee in Great Britain, he died six years later, carried away by an unexplained illness.

"Alexander was too well informed and it was not good for Putin. He was not going to be silent. And that, Putin had understood it well...", affirms Marina Litvinenko, widow of Alexander Litvinenko.  

It is at University College Hospital in London that the man will die.

In a photo that has gone around the world, we see him with yellow skin, hair that has fallen out in handfuls, eaten away from the inside.

His wife Marina convinces the nursing staff and the English police to look for the causes of this sudden and unexplained illness.

"When Alexander arrived at the hospital and I said to check if it was poisoning, the doctors looked at me like crazy, not understanding how a man could arrive at the hospital victim of radioactive poisoning and that people may have wanted to kill him", recalls Marina Litvinenko.  

The Litvinenko "scheme" which cost the life of the ex-FSB agent in 2006. The drawing shows that the illegal financial flows from mafia groups go back to the government via security bodies such as the FSB... Everything everyone therefore receives everyone's money.

Credit: Marina Litvinenko Archive. 

But the former FSB agent was openly investigating links between Putin's Kremlin, organized crime and money laundering in Europe.

He had drawn the "Litvinenko" diagram which showed how a complex system of corruption mixing FSB, mafia and politicians allowed enrichment and theft at the highest level of the state.

An honest officer, he informs his superiors of his discoveries, Vladimir Putin himself is informed, thus signing the death warrant of the agent, according to Marina Litvinenko.  

On November 23, 2006, after three weeks of agony, Alexander Litvinenko died.

His wife takes legal action.

The conclusions of the investigation are formal: Alexander Litvinenko was the victim of an assassination, poisoned with polonium 210, a metal 400 times more radioactive than uranium and that only a nuclear reactor can produce.

"It was radioactive material that was used and the quantity found is unprecedented. This means that it was an act of state terrorism," says Marina Litvinenko.

“Who was able to authorize radioactive material to be transported to London and used here? Who gave the authorization? That is an important part of the question, who bears the responsibility for this and who must be punished. 

I took my wallet, I got on a plane, and I left

For Marina Litvinenko, the identity of the sponsors is beyond doubt.

She relies on the Scotland Yard investigation to point the finger at Vladimir Putin and the head of the secret services, Nikolai Patrushev.

The master of the Kremlin has never been officially accused, but the investigation went back to two former members of the Russian secret services who now live quietly in Russia, protected by the authorities.

In September 2021, the European Court of Human Rights confirmed for its part the responsibility of Russia in the death of Alexander Litvinenko. 

New suspicions

José Grinda, Spanish prosecutor 

President Vladimir Putin would therefore never have put an end to the logic of personal enrichment.

But has he abandoned his old relationships?

Especially the ones he had with Gennady Petrov, the head of the St. Petersburg mafia?

On June 14, 2008, the latter and his relatives were arrested in Spain.

Gennadi Petrov is a victim of his lavish lifestyle: the police come to get him in a huge villa he had built with a view overlooking the sea. A gigantic real estate paradise, but no declared income.

In 2007, Spanish justice began to take an interest in the mafia boss.

He is wiretapped and under surveillance.  

Among the prosecutors at the initiative of this investigation, José Grinda.

In the telephone tapping he ordered, he discovered, amazed, the extent of the links between the Russian mafia and the government of Vladimir Putin.

“Mr. Petrov speaks frequently with certain politicians and officials. There are conversations in which they discuss Petrov's interests in Russia. And they speak in a tone that is not a friendly tone but rather a tone to obtain something. thing, to influence these public figures. This is called influence peddling", he reports.

This is called influence peddling

An influence peddling which would take place in particular between the head of the mafia Gennadi Petrov and "Tolik", in other words Anatoly Serdioukov, Putin's defense minister according to wiretapping carried out by the prosecutor.

"It was a very intimate relationship. It's not as if they barely knew each other. What we are sure of is that Gennady Petrov had a relationship of hierarchical superiority vis-à-vis Anatoly Serdioukov Well, maybe not hierarchical, but in any case, of superiority. In conversations, in the way of speaking, Anatoly Serdioukov was clearly below Gennady Petrov", affirms José Grinda. 

Links between the mafia leader Gennadi Petrov and a minister close to Vladimir Putin are therefore proven.

But it is also possible that the current Russian president appears in person in the recorded conversations via a nickname that regularly comes up in the plays: "Piervyi", First in Russian.

In a conversation transcribed by the justice between Gennadi Petrov and his son Anton, the "Premier" seems to have control over all types of business.

So who really is this mysterious "First"?

"I don't know, I don't remember," smiles José Grinda.

Sergei Kolesnikov, businessman 

Officially, Vladimir Putin is a champion of the fight against corruption.

He frequently considers on Russian television sets that Russian laws and practices in this area are at the level of international standards.

But according to businessman Sergei Kolesnikov, this would only be a facade.

In 2010, the latter had to leave Russia hastily, threatened with imminent arrest.

"I learned that someone close to Putin had decided to put drugs in my car to send me to prison. So I took my wallet, I got on a plane, and I left", he testifies. 

Since then he has lived in Europe.

To testify, he makes an appointment in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.

In his hotel room, he plays a recording made during a meeting with his associates, one of the last before his exile.

A work meeting during which the financial results of his medical equipment company are reviewed.

A flourishing business in 2009 thanks to a hidden shareholder, according to Sergei Kolesnikov: Vladimir Putin. 

Thanks to him, the company would have received numerous public orders with the key to substantial profits, claimed by a certain Mikhail Ivanovitch.

A key figure in the clandestine recordings made during the meetings by Sergei Kolesnikov, and who is actually a pseudonym.

"This nickname (sic) refers to Putin," he confirms.

A ploy used to "speak without quoting a publicly known name, to be more free to discuss and not to draw attention to our discussions." 

On that day in 2009 in St. Petersburg during heated discussions, Sergei Kolesnikov's partners would have recorded, according to the recording, the payment of all the profits, i.e. nearly 450 million euros to their hidden shareholder, Vladimir Putin .

An illegal payment, since Vladimir Putin's public service prevents him from receiving money from a private company.  

Diagram explaining the transfers of money between the companies in which Vladimir Putin is a hidden shareholder and the companies intended to finance the palace on the shores of the Black Sea, the value of which is estimated at one billion dollars.

Note the voluntary complexity of the transfers, intended to conceal them.

Credit: skolesnikov.org

This money, according to Sergei Kolesnikov, Vladimir Putin would have used it to build a gigantic palace on the shores of the Black Sea, unveiled last year in detail by the opponent Alexei Navalny, imprisoned since.

Total estimated value of the property and buildings: nearly one billion euros.

Sergei Kolesnikov has already publicly accused Vladimir Putin of illegal enrichment on several occasions and has never been sued.

Vladimir Putin and the Panama Papers 

Ilya Tcherkassov, patron of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic 

In April 2016, the biggest financial scandal of recent years broke out: the Panama Papers.

More than 11 million confidential documents from the Panamanian business firm Mossack Fonseca come to light.

All tell the same thing, the creation of off-shore accounts in tax havens with one goal: to launder money from tax evasion or corruption.

Among the names that appear on the listings, a relative on whom Vladimir Putin relies a lot, a very long-time friend, Serguei Roldouguine. 

The man is one of the most famous Russian musicians, but also the godfather of the second daughter of Vladimir Putin and his best friend since childhood.

His signature appears on documents that helped hide more than two billion dollars in Panama.

Is it about his personal fortune or would he have agreed to hide the money from his childhood friend, Vladimir Putin? 

He was and remains a friend of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin

In St. Petersburg, Sergei Roldugin regularly comes to play at the Philharmonic, where the man is known for his modesty.

Ilya Tcherkasov, is the director of the establishment.

For him, the musician would have nothing of a wealthy man.

"He doesn't seem interested in the money. He's a man, let's put it that way, who doesn't behave and live like someone who has two billion dollars. When he comes to the Philharmonie, he drives his car himself and asks me in advance by telephone to reserve a parking space for him, if that is possible. A billionaire behaves differently." 

A rather simple way of life which does not prevent Illya Tcherkassov from having been the direct witness of the friendship which binds Sergei Roldouguine to Vladimir Putin.

"He was and remains a friend of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. I saw them together once, four years ago at the Philharmonic, at a ceremony in honor of a musician. They were both invited there , we saw them together. And yes, we could see that they were relatives, "he says. 

A reflection of Vladimir Putin's state of mind in St. Petersburg.

His friend Serguei Roldougine welcomes him for the night, he says.

Title: "Quieter with a weapon"

"One day Vladimir came to my house at the dacha with his driver. We sat down, we talked, and we went to sleep. That's when I see him setting up a shotgun next to him Apparently a problem had arisen. I said to him: 'Vovka, what are you doing? Do you think this will save you?'

He replies, whether it saves me or not, I feel calmer with it. It was the last year of his work as mayor, as Anatoly Sobchak's election campaign was beginning. Credit: Editions Vagriouss 2000

Could this friendship have served Vladimir Putin to hide his fortune?

On the first Russian national channel, Sergei Roldouguine justified these two billion dollars by donations for educational purposes obtained from patrons.

"Learning music is very expensive and very individualized. Supporting musicians is also very expensive. So I ask my friends for money and I probably end up pissing them off by asking them to participate financially in my projects. But it doesn't work out that badly." 

Roman Schleinov, investigative journalist 

In front of the cameras, Serguei Roldouguine even justifies the use of the funds in question.

"I can show the instruments that I buy: instrument 1, instrument 2, the four pianos that I have just sent to Sochi for a music school. But this version of the facts struggles to convince journalists to Russian investigation who worked on the Panama Papers." In reality, this answer is not serious.

Two billion dollars does not correspond to the few instruments that he brought back from abroad", affirms Roman Schleinov, investigative journalist for 

, one of the last independent Russian newspapers. "With 2 billion dollars, he would have flooded the land of musical instruments." 

For Roman Schleinov, there is only one possible beneficiary.

“Who exactly has control of this money? Who needs Roldugin to hide and not show that this money is his? The first idea that comes to mind is the Russian president. "It's very hard to prove it. He's a former [secret] service, he shouldn't be on the documents," he explains.

"A smart Russian civil servant never leaves his signature on any file. For this kind of thing, he calls on a trusted person, a friend, a relative or someone in the family." 

As to why Vladimir Putin would want to accumulate so much money, Roman Schleinov kicks in touch.

"I don't know why a man wants to control all these financial resources. We don't know what it is intended for, nor do we know the exact role that those around him play in the use of this money." 

But Vladimir Putin will himself provide the official answer to this question on the pro-government channel 

in April 2016. According to the Russian president, Sergei Roldougin is an honest man, just like him.

"The more people like him, the better. I'm proud to be his friend," said the Kremlin master.

"They made up what they call information saying 'There is a friend of the Russian president involved so it must have something to do with corruption'. But what corruption? There is no corruption." 

Certificate of office of the Mossack Fonseca firm which includes the name of Sergey Pavlovich Roldugin written in English, the childhood friend of Vladimir Putin.

Credit: document from the ICIJ funds with the help of Anastasia Kirilenko.

La traque de Vladimir Poutine  

Vladimir Milov, ancien ministre, membre des équipes d’Alexei Navalny 

Le "Premier", Mikhail Ivanovitch… ces pseudonymes renvoient-ils à coup sûr au maitre du Kremlin ? Si le doute subsiste encore, cela n'empêche pas certains d'avoir été témoins d'un trafic d'influence au plus haut niveau. C'est notamment le cas de Vladimir Milov, ministre adjoint de l'Économie de Vladimir Poutine entre 2000 et 2002. Selon lui, sous l’influence de son président, la Russie s’est transformée en kleptocratie. "Il a établi un contrôle total des biens et des revenus dans les industries principales, à savoir le gaz, l’électricité, le pétrole. Il le fait avec les gens de son cercle proche et certains dont la rumeur dit qu’ils sont connectés avec le crime organisé de Saint-Pétersbourg", souffle-t-il.  

"Pour moi, faire cela, c’est du crime organisé en soi car c’est criminel pour des bureaucrates de pouvoir contrôler le cash-flow. Les amis reçoivent tous les contrats d’État, les financements, et ils inventent même des projets spéciaux absolument inutiles." Un système bien rôdé qui permettrait de dire que Vladimir Poutine est une forme de parrain, selon ce membre des équipes de l'opposant Alexeï Navalny. "Il contrôle tout personnellement."

William Browder, l'homme d’affaires à l’origine de la loi Magnitsky 

La force et la longévité du tentaculaire "système Poutine" a, au fil du temps, piqué la curiosité de nombreux observateurs. Mais dès que l’un d’entre eux s’apprête à montrer les preuves de la corruption de Vladimir Poutine, du gouvernement russe ou des oligarques, le Kremlin n’hésiterait pas à le menacer, voire le sacrifier. La menace de mort peut donc rapidement devenir une épée de Damoclès au-dessus de la tête de certains, comme pour l'homme d’affaires William Browder. Chaque année à Londres, il organise une cérémonie d’hommage à Serguei Magnitski, son ancien avocat "tué, car son crime était d’avoir démontré la corruption du système Poutine." 

In 2009, after two years of investigation, Sergei Magnitsky has just proven that senior Russian officials stole $250 million during the illegal expropriation of his boss William Browder.

But when he informs the Russian justice of his discoveries, the response is immediate: Magnitsky is arrested for tax evasion and imprisoned.

He was beaten to death at night by eight guards

"Il a été arrêté et mis en détention préventive, puis torturé pour qu’il retire son témoignage contre les membres du gouvernement. Il était enfermé dans une cellule sans chauffage et sans fenêtre, en décembre, à Moscou où il fait froid à mourir", explique William Browder. Mais Serguei Magnitski refuse de signer une confession et de se parjurer. À 37 ans, ce père de deux enfants meurt en prison après 358 jours de détention, quelques jours avant la limite d'un an durant laquelle il pouvait être détenu sans procès. "Il a été battu à mort de nuit par huit gardes", affirme William Browder.  

Bien décidé à ne pas en rester là, l'homme d'affaires se lance dans une enquête pour comprendre pourquoi son avocat gênait tant les autorités russes, mais également pour retrouver les 250 millions de dollars volés lors de son expropriation.  

Au bout de sept ans d'efforts, William Browder arrive à dessiner le circuit de l’argent au travers de dizaines de sociétés offshores jusqu’à l’un des bénéficiaires, selon lui : Serguei Roldouguine, l'ami d’enfance de Vladimir Poutine, l'homme aux deux milliards de dollars épinglé par les Panama Papers. "C’est le flux d’argent que Serguei Magnitski a découvert et la raison pour laquelle il a été tué", affirme-t-il. "L'argent passe par des banques russes, des banques moldaves, jusqu’à arriver potentiellement sur le compte de Roldouguine." 

Et d'ajouter : "La morale de l’affaire Magnitski est que si vous avez quelque chose que les autorités veulent voler, ils vont le faire. Et plus cette chose a de valeur, plus ils mettront de moyens pour la voler. Et si vous faites quoi que ce soit pour leur barrer le chemin, alors rien ne les arrêtera. Ils iront jusqu’à vous tuer ou tuer vos employés, en le faisant de la manière la plus sadique possible." 

Schéma conçu par l’équipe de William Browder recherchant les flux financiers alimentant les proches de Vladimir Poutine. On remarque l'incroyable effort de dissimulation des flux d'argent via des sociétés offshores, et des prêtes-nom. Crédit : William Browder.

William Browder finira même par attaquer de front Vladimir Poutine et il parvient, en décembre 2012, à faire adopter par les États-Unis le Magnitski Act, une loi qui permet de geler à l’étranger les biens mal acquis des officiels russes. Une grande victoire pour l’homme d’affaires. "La loi Magnitski ruine le modèle de business de Poutine. Il a travaillé dur pendant 17 ans pour voler en commettant des crimes et maintenant, avec l’argent bloqué à l’Ouest, cela n’en vaut plus le coup. Il est touché au cœur de ce qui est le plus important pour lui", jubile William Browder. 

Mais faire de l'avocat un symbole de la lutte anti-corruption en Russie a une conséquence immédiate : devenir l'ennemi numéro un du Kremlin. "J’ai été menacé de mort et de kidnapping. De nombreuses enquêtes criminelles sont ouvertes contre moi en Russie. J’ai été condamné à 18 ans de prison par contumace", témoigne-t-il. "Les russes veulent me tuer, mais ils veulent me tuer de telle sorte que cela n’ait pas de répercussions pour Vladimir Poutine et pour son régime. Donc ils doivent trouver une façon de me tuer qui ne ramène pas l’enquête vers eux. Et pour l’instant, ils n’ont pas trouvé. Ils y pensent, j’en suis sûr, ils en parlent. Et moi je dois les empêcher d’y arriver."

Un "système Poutine" sur le déclin ? 

Accusations de corruption généralisée, de liens avec la mafia, ou encore d'avoir ordonné des meurtres… Combien de temps le "système Poutine" peut-il encore durer ? Rendra-t-il un jour des comptes ? Aujourd’hui, le secret de sa survie, ce serait de garder le pouvoir par tous les moyens : les russes vont de moins en moins voter et le font de moins en moins en faveur de Russie Unie, le parti de Vladimir Poutine. L’opposition est annihilée, le nationalisme porté à son paroxysme avec le conflit ukrainien pour mobiliser les russes derrière le Kremlin. Mais toutes ces mesures ne permettent pas au président de résoudre son principal problème, sa succession comme le pense Vladimir Milov

"Je pense qu’il est déjà en train de prendre la sortie", avance l’ancien ministre. "La question est de savoir combien de temps il va encore pouvoir garder le pouvoir. Beaucoup de personnes vont vouloir le poursuivre en justice." "Vladimir Poutine a très peur de ne plus être président de la Russie car il sait que moi, tout comme de nombreuses autres victimes de ses crimes, allons vouloir le juger", renchérit de son côté William Browder, l'homme d'affaires à l’origine de la loi Magnitsky. Premier ministre ou président, Vladimir Poutine est à la tête de la Russie depuis août 1999. Après avoir fait évoluer la Constitution, il peut envisager de rester au pouvoir jusqu’en 2036.

Remerciements à Anastasia Kirilenko sans qui rien de tout cela ne serait possible et à toutes les personnes qui se dévouent pour témoigner.