Putin exacts revenge as ‘turncoat’ ex-KGB colonel stripped of seat

Gennady Gudkov’s removal from Russia’s lower house paves the way for similar action against other opposition MPs, sending a clear message to members that they serve at the pleasure of the Kremlin.

The 291-150 vote with three abstentions to expel Mr Gudkov from the State Duma also means he will no longer be protected by immunity from prosecution. His supporters fear he could face arrest.

Mr Gudkov denounced the move as “political revenge and extrajudicial repression”.

This 56-year-old, like Putin a KGB veteran, is not your typical Russian protester. Stout with a moustache, he cut a striking figure among young activists as he chanted “Putin, Resign!” from the stage at opposition rallies last winter.

That was on weekends. During the week, he donned expensive suits and attended closed-door meetings at the Russian parliament. He was deputy chairman of the security committee and enjoyed good relations with many senior officials in Russian police security agencies.

The vote to expel Mr Gudkov comes a day before the first major opposition rally after a summer break, a clear signal that the Kremlin is ready to toughen its stance against the opposition.

Gleb Pavlovsky, a former Kremlin political consultant, said it moved against Mr Gudkov out of fear that his example might encourage other members of the ruling elite to join the opposition.

Mr Gudkov’s behaviour was like “a spectre of the split in the elite that the Kremlin is so afraid of”, Mr Pavlovsky said. “It scared them a lot.”

For most of the past 10 years, the State Duma, the lower house, has obediently rubber-stamped all Kremlin bills. Critics were tolerated because a solid pro-Kremlin majority could ensure the safe passage of any legislation.

Mr Gudkov, who worked in the KGB from 1981 to 1992 and then continued his career in its main successor agency, became an MP in 2001. He was initially a member of United Russia, the dominant Kremlin party, before moving in 2007 to Fair Russia, another Kremlin-created party which has leaned more toward the opposition in recent years.

Stanislav Belkovsky, a political analyst who has had close government links, said the Kremlin has seen Mr Gudkov as a turncoat who needs to be punished.

But Mr Gudkov said an attempt to strip him of his seat without any charges violated the law.