An annual survey of press freedom calls 2014 “the worst period in Ukraine’s history since independence,” while Azerbaijani reporters are warned to “shut up, flee abroad or be jailed on trumped-up charges.”

Thousands of protesters gathered outside the Hungarian Parliament building on Sunday,to ask visiting German chancellor Angela Merkel for her help in opposing corruption and autocratic policies in Hungary.

Freedom House released its world freedom report on Jan. 28, declaring that civil liberties have seen a global decline for the ninth year in a row.

Vladimir Putin Wins OCCRP’s Person of Year for 2014

Vladimir Putin has been named the 2014 Person of the Year by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), an award given annually to the person who does the most to enable and promote organized criminal activity.

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Russian president Vladimir Putin has proposed a one-off amnesty on capital returning to Russia amid concerns that the country will slide into recession next year.

More than 10,000 Hungarians protested on Monday, Nov. 17 against Prime Minister Viktor Orban, saying he is too close to the Kremlin and employs corrupt officials.

President-elect Vladimir Putin, has called for more information from companies within five days to measure and combat corruption in Russia.

http://en.ria.ru/business/20120311/172089820.html

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called for Russia’s energy and economy ministries and law enforcement agencies to probe corruption at state-owned utilities, Interfax reported from a government meeting in Siberia.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-19/putin-calls-for-corruption-probe-of-utilities-interfax-reports.html

The wife of Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, whom the United States sentenced to 20 years in prison for conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the country, has turned to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to help return her husband to Russia.
http://en.ria.ru/russia/20111017/167768370.html