Kasparov weer vrij manKasparov released

After a five-day detention, Garry Kasparov has been released today. In a brief statement Kasparov called his arrest an example of Russia's transition into a dictatorship. He also stated that the arrest was meant as a warning and that next time it would be a criminal case.

Michael Greengard (Mig), who works for Kasparov on a daily basis, writes:

"Just talked to Garry at his home, where he's deluged with several rings of reporters. He was moved secretly to a different police station and then actually driven home in a colonel's car because they wanted to avoid all a big scene with all the media and supporters outside the jail. He sounds good, ready to spit fire in the pages of the Wall Street Journal. He said he had plenty of free time to work on an article."

Last Tuesday, nobody else than Anatoly Karpov tried to visit Kasparov, but access to his old rival was denied, according to Marina Litvinovich, a senior member of Kasparov's United Civil Front, who spoke to Reuters. "Karpov is a member of the Public Chamber (collective government oversight body) and has the right to visit those detained. All the same, they would not let him in," she said. "Karpov must have been seeking to extend moral support or see the conditions in which Kasparov is being held."