0:00:30 > 0:00:32The Kremlin is accused of poisoning its
0:00:32 > 0:00:35enemies in Britain.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38But what happens to Vladimir Putin's opponents back home?
0:00:38 > 0:00:40As Russia prepares for a presidential election, I meet the
0:00:40 > 0:00:42people standing up to the Kremlin.
0:00:42 > 0:00:43Is Russia a police state?
0:00:43 > 0:00:45Absolutely.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48100%.
0:00:48 > 0:00:49Close the doors.
0:00:49 > 0:00:50Close the door.
0:00:50 > 0:00:51Close the door.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54I find out what it's like to become a target myself.
0:00:54 > 0:00:56There's no question whatsoever that we're being followed.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58And we show how the Russian state attacks its opponents
0:00:58 > 0:01:02and bullies its critics.
0:01:02 > 0:01:08I'm in a police station.
0:01:08 > 0:01:16It's how it goes in a democracy like the one that Russia's got.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35I've been coming to Russia for years.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38But this visit feels different.
0:01:38 > 0:01:46The authorities, we believe, will be watching us.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51This Sunday, there's a presidential election.
0:01:51 > 0:01:59Everyone knows who is going to win.
0:02:00 > 0:02:02Vladimir Putin has been in power here for the
0:02:02 > 0:02:03last 18 years.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06In a few days' time, he's expected to win six
0:02:06 > 0:02:12more years in power.
0:02:12 > 0:02:14No one really doubts the outcome of the election.
0:02:14 > 0:02:22The question is - how can that be?
0:02:23 > 0:02:26Vladimir Putin is popular.
0:02:26 > 0:02:28But this is a country where challenging
0:02:28 > 0:02:36power can get you killed.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40Three years ago, one of President Putin's
0:02:40 > 0:02:45main rivals was gunned down close to the Kremlin.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48It was a Saturday and we just sort of
0:02:48 > 0:02:55exchanged a few messages.
0:02:55 > 0:03:03The last message I think was at 11.13pm and it said
0:03:04 > 0:03:06see you tomorrow and at 11.31pm he was killed.
0:03:06 > 0:03:11Boris Nemtsov had been planning to challenge
0:03:11 > 0:03:14Vladimir Putin in this year's presidential election.
0:03:14 > 0:03:20The Kremlin denies any involvement in the murder.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23Boris Nemtsov was killed because he was
0:03:23 > 0:03:24the strongest the most
0:03:24 > 0:03:25effective, the most
0:03:25 > 0:03:26prominent, the most formidable opponent of
0:03:26 > 0:03:29Vladimir Putin's regime.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32He would not be intimidated, he would not make any deals with
0:03:32 > 0:03:34the regime, he would not leave the country, he
0:03:34 > 0:03:35would not be silenced.
0:03:35 > 0:03:43This was the only way he could be silenced.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45I have come to Moscow to find out what
0:03:45 > 0:03:52life's really like for the opposition here.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55Volkswagen Golf 2 behind us.
0:03:55 > 0:04:03And that means I might become a target too.
0:04:04 > 0:04:05T914.
0:04:05 > 0:04:11They're really close behind us.
0:04:11 > 0:04:16We are going a complicated way but Volkswagen follows us. Everywhere
0:04:16 > 0:04:28that we go. It seems someone wants to know what we're up to.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32to know what we're up to.It is now reversing.It is the same one, I
0:04:32 > 0:04:39remember. Close the door. Close the door. The blue Volkswagen has
0:04:39 > 0:04:45followed us to the office of Human Rights Watch. They document what
0:04:45 > 0:04:56happens to the opposition here.Very experience raids and invasive
0:04:56 > 0:05:01instructions. Campaigners get beaten up. They get burgled and physically
0:05:01 > 0:05:07abused. The complaining of this is get vandalised and private homes get
0:05:07 > 0:05:14vandalised and so on and so forth. One man has lived with this reality
0:05:14 > 0:05:20for years.
0:05:27 > 0:05:31Alexei Navalny dares to expose corruption amongst Vladimir Putin's
0:05:31 > 0:05:36inner circle.
0:05:45 > 0:05:53There are other candidates standing in Sunday's election.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56in Sunday's election. But Alexei Navalny has been banned because of a
0:05:56 > 0:06:01conviction for theft. The European Court of Human Rights found the
0:06:01 > 0:06:13original trial was unfair. The Kremlin says Navalny organises
0:06:13 > 0:06:22illegal rallies. This is what happens when he holds one.
0:06:25 > 0:06:32He was later accused of assaulting a police officer jeering this arrest.
0:06:32 > 0:06:40-- during this arrest.He is the most prominent, possibly the most
0:06:40 > 0:06:48charismatic opposition figure in the country today and the Government is
0:06:48 > 0:06:54preventing him from running in the election.
0:06:55 > 0:07:01election.914. When we leave Human Rights Watch, we are still being
0:07:01 > 0:07:08followed by the blue Volkswagen.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10followed by the blue Volkswagen. OK, I'm paranoid. It's now three o'clock
0:07:10 > 0:07:15and everywhere we've been, we've been followed by a car with a
0:07:15 > 0:07:28registration number starting TE 914. -- T914. People who take on the
0:07:28 > 0:07:33system here are routinely spied on. Life in Vladimir Putin's Russia can
0:07:33 > 0:07:38be far more dangerous. If you work for the team Navalny being arrested
0:07:38 > 0:07:47goes with the job. Some activists have suffered far worse.I felt a
0:07:47 > 0:07:52strong blow to the head. At first I thought something had fallen off the
0:07:52 > 0:07:56roof, I thought something was collapsing. I turned round and see a
0:07:56 > 0:08:07man hitting me once again with what turned out to be a metal pipe.
0:08:07 > 0:08:13Nikolai was accused of setting up the attack on himself. He says his
0:08:13 > 0:08:19office was later raided by the police.It was so absurd, I got
0:08:19 > 0:08:25assaulted and was hit over the head with a pipe. At the Moscow
0:08:25 > 0:08:28headquarters are compensated all leaflets, all stickers and all
0:08:28 > 0:08:35merchandise with the word, Navalny. Inside Navalny HQ, the man many say
0:08:35 > 0:08:40Plaid emit Putin fears emost has agreed to meet me. -- Vladimir
0:08:40 > 0:08:50Putin. How you? Very well. Why are you not running in this election?I
0:08:50 > 0:08:57am not allowed to run. Putin banned me from participating. He is afraid
0:08:57 > 0:09:03of me and my colleagues. We have, just as volunteers, more than
0:09:03 > 0:09:11200,000 people. Of course he is afraid of such a power.Alexei
0:09:11 > 0:09:17Navalny has been repeatedly arrested and detained.It's kind of very
0:09:17 > 0:09:22routine situation for me. Every single time when I am going on the
0:09:22 > 0:09:29outdoor rally they arrested me. They took away our leaflets and our
0:09:29 > 0:09:36laptops, computers. They can take everything.It is completely
0:09:36 > 0:09:48illegal.Is Russia a police state? Absolutely. 100%.
0:09:49 > 0:09:53Absolutely. 100%.The Kremlin would not speak to us but it is not hard
0:09:53 > 0:10:01to find politicians here who will give the Kremlin line.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04give the Kremlin line.Navalny has been attacked several times. Last
0:10:04 > 0:10:11year he spent 60 days in prison or in jail. Russia is a police state,
0:10:11 > 0:10:16isn't it? Russia is less of a police state than any Western country I
0:10:16 > 0:10:22know of. We have quite a liberal legislation on protests and people
0:10:22 > 0:10:30need to not violate them. The police deal with protests in a way which is
0:10:30 > 0:10:36according to their law.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44according to their law.But here it is easy to get on the wrong side of
0:10:44 > 0:10:53the security services. There is the FSB, the new name for the KGB,
0:10:53 > 0:10:58Russia's krych police. And there is a Police Department that is accused
0:10:58 > 0:11:09of targeting political activists. It is called centre E.Officially it is
0:11:09 > 0:11:16a counter extremism police force. Absolutely. In Russia it is
0:11:16 > 0:11:19understood in a strange way. The idea that any kind of thing that
0:11:19 > 0:11:24could be considered a threat to political stability, that would be
0:11:24 > 0:11:37considered extremism.What have we got? There is a car on our tail,
0:11:37 > 0:11:44again. We are being followed, we think. The car registration numbers
0:11:44 > 0:11:50we can pick out 369. This time we are being tracked by a dark coloured
0:11:50 > 0:11:55Renault.
0:11:55 > 0:12:00Renault. Who do you think is following us?It might be centre E,
0:12:00 > 0:12:07it might be someone else. Usually it means a message. A lot is about a
0:12:07 > 0:12:15message with the Russians.For people like andray, this has become
0:12:15 > 0:12:21part of life. Have you been threatened physically?Yes. What
0:12:21 > 0:12:25happened? Last summer I got some e-mails with physical threats. Like
0:12:25 > 0:12:32a death threat?Yes. They said probably it is time to do something
0:12:32 > 0:12:43about it?Meaning physically.
0:12:45 > 0:12:52In Putin's Russia, the line between the security services and violent
0:12:52 > 0:12:58folks is sometimes blurred. Last April, Alexei Navalny was almost
0:12:58 > 0:13:05blinded in one eye. -- thugs. The police denied that centre E is being
0:13:05 > 0:13:10accused of supporting the group blamed for the attack. They are
0:13:10 > 0:13:21called SERB and they are pro-Putin. I want to meet them.
0:13:21 > 0:13:30I want to meet them. Hello. What I do not know is we are being secretly
0:13:30 > 0:13:37filmed. This footage later turns up on Russian TV.
0:13:43 > 0:13:50SERB deny the green dye attack on Navalny but they take me to the
0:13:50 > 0:13:58place where opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was gunned down. An
0:13:58 > 0:14:04opposition activist garners the memorial because it has been
0:14:04 > 0:14:11vandalised in the past.
0:14:34 > 0:14:39Some people say that SERB, this group, is controlled by centre E. Is
0:14:39 > 0:14:41that true?
0:14:56 > 0:15:03Check out these SERB activist who is filming us. Here he is at the green
0:15:03 > 0:15:09dye attack on Navalny last April and this is him showing what appears to
0:15:09 > 0:15:15be his police ID at another SERB protest. He is a former police
0:15:15 > 0:15:28Major. It suggests SERB may be well connected.
0:15:29 > 0:15:37SERB has now taken me to a memorial near Boris
0:15:37 > 0:15:44near Boris Nemtsov's old home. They take it apart.
0:16:00 > 0:16:00was Ben
0:16:00 > 0:16:05Aren't you desecrating a shrine?
0:16:05 > 0:16:06They dump the wreath in a toilet.
0:16:06 > 0:16:14It's clearly vandalism by SERB and it's all caught on film.
0:16:17 > 0:16:23But the next day, we get picked up by the police.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26It feels like we're being set up.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29We're being escorted - there's a police officer in our van -
0:16:29 > 0:16:33to a local police station.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35The police want to question us about the vandalism
0:16:35 > 0:16:38of the Nemtsov memorial.
0:16:38 > 0:16:43I'm in a police station and my colleague Seamus
0:16:43 > 0:16:45and our translator have been taken down to answer police questions.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47They've left me on my own.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50It's a slightly surreal moment.
0:16:51 > 0:16:53Here I am.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57I'm sure everything is fine but I don't quite know.
0:16:58 > 0:17:06It's how it goes in a democracy like the one that Russia's got.
0:17:10 > 0:17:12While we're in the nick, pro-Kremlin media say I may be
0:17:12 > 0:17:18charged with vandalism.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20Here we go.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22After three hours, we're finally released.
0:17:22 > 0:17:28Are we ready?
0:17:28 > 0:17:29Are we going?
0:17:29 > 0:17:31Yeah.
0:17:31 > 0:17:32Off you go.
0:17:32 > 0:17:38But when we get outside, a TV crew is waiting to doorstep us.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41OK, so there's a story on Ren TV that I was sort of somehow been
0:17:41 > 0:17:47charged with vandalism.
0:17:47 > 0:17:49It's a total fabrication.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52We've spent the last three hours in here and then
0:17:52 > 0:17:55you come out straightaway, as if you knew exactly
0:17:55 > 0:17:56what was happening.
0:17:56 > 0:17:58Are you some part of the police state?
0:17:58 > 0:18:00Are you some part of the police state?
0:18:00 > 0:18:02Can you answer the question?
0:18:02 > 0:18:03Er, hi.
0:18:03 > 0:18:05Are you some part of a police state?
0:18:05 > 0:18:06You're not?
0:18:08 > 0:18:09Ask a question.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12Russian.
0:18:12 > 0:18:13Only Russian.
0:18:13 > 0:18:14OK, so.
0:18:14 > 0:18:16So, very good.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19OK, so, these colleagues here from Russian TV have come
0:18:19 > 0:18:21here to doorstep us and they've done it so incompetently that
0:18:21 > 0:18:22they're now walking away.
0:18:22 > 0:18:30It's really quite pathetic, but off you go.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40We've just been given a small taste of what it's
0:18:40 > 0:18:41like for the opposition.
0:18:41 > 0:18:43They're regularly targeted by Russian TV.
0:18:47 > 0:18:55Don't call them TV, they are not journalists.
0:18:56 > 0:19:00It's a part of the government, part of the state, like spies, agent etc.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03They have some peoples with cameras who are working as a journalist.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05If you really take on the Kremlin here,
0:19:05 > 0:19:08you've got to fight a dark triangle - the security services, violent
0:19:08 > 0:19:11thugs and the pro-Kremlin media.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13They'll be on your case.
0:19:13 > 0:19:20And it's this dark triangle that makes politics here so chilling.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22Is Russia a democracy?
0:19:22 > 0:19:24Oh, of course it is.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27Russia is a democracy.
0:19:27 > 0:19:31It has elected parliament, elected president.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34And I would say it has more freedom of expression than any country
0:19:34 > 0:19:39I would know of at this point.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42If you watch Russian television of course you'll have a several
0:19:42 > 0:19:48miles longer spectrum of opinion than on BBC, for example.
0:19:48 > 0:19:53So Russia is more free than Britain?
0:19:53 > 0:19:55I'm not in a business of comparing democracies.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59But as far as freedom of expression is concerned,
0:19:59 > 0:20:07I think Russia is more forward than the UK.
0:20:13 > 0:20:18But speaking out against Vladimir Putin can be dangerous.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21I've come to St Petersburg.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24Some of the worst cases of political violence in the past few months have
0:20:24 > 0:20:31taken place in the frozen city.
0:20:35 > 0:20:40Vladimir Ivanyutenko is a road cleaner here.
0:20:40 > 0:20:47He's famous for his protests against Vladimir Putin.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49But last December, the man behind the mask was nearly
0:20:49 > 0:20:52killed on his way to work.
0:20:53 > 0:20:57TRANSLATION: I saw a flash. It was a taser.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59The second man jumped at me and stabbed me
0:20:59 > 0:21:02with a knife, right here.
0:21:02 > 0:21:06It seems he wanted to stab me in the heart.
0:21:06 > 0:21:14I saw that my blood was pumping out from this wound.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18This is stab wound number one.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22And stab wound number two is right here.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40Vladimir believes the state was behind the attack.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46Why did this happen?
0:21:46 > 0:21:49TRANSLATION: I can only explain it by my opposition activities.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52I consistently oppose Putin's regime.
0:21:52 > 0:21:54I think it's kleptocratic.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59He is not a legitimate president.
0:22:05 > 0:22:11We've been trying to keep a low profile in St Petersburg.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15But we're being followed - again.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19John, remember this number - 062.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25So we've stopped for a coffee.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29062 followed us from there, and there it is.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32It's just gone that way because we've turned a sneaky left,
0:22:32 > 0:22:35but we'll see it again no doubt.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42Sure enough - 062 turns up again.
0:22:46 > 0:22:51So, as predicted, 062 caught up with us very, very quickly.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53There's no question whatsoever that we're being followed -
0:22:53 > 0:22:55as we were in Moscow, as we are now being
0:22:55 > 0:22:58followed in St Petersburg.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01Somebody very powerful in Russia wants to know what we're up to.
0:23:08 > 0:23:13The Kremlin's friends in the media have tracked us down too.
0:23:13 > 0:23:15How do you know I'm here?
0:23:15 > 0:23:18We know that you came from Moscow to St Petersburg.
0:23:18 > 0:23:20Who told you?
0:23:20 > 0:23:21We have our producers who contact...
0:23:21 > 0:23:24And who told them?
0:23:24 > 0:23:26Look it's...
0:23:26 > 0:23:31I mean there is a secret of our informators, you know that.
0:23:31 > 0:23:35As before, they're from a pro-Kremlin media company.
0:23:35 > 0:23:36But anyway, carry on, what's your question?
0:23:36 > 0:23:38So what are you doing here in St Petersburg?
0:23:38 > 0:23:40It's none of your business.
0:23:40 > 0:23:45OK.
0:23:45 > 0:23:48But what I can tell you is what I'm doing is I'm doing my job
0:23:48 > 0:23:52as a reporter and when we are ready it will be broadcast on the BBC
0:23:52 > 0:24:00and you are invited to watch the programme, as everybody else
0:24:00 > 0:24:03will watch Panorama.
0:24:04 > 0:24:06Many of the opposition activists we meet are worried
0:24:06 > 0:24:09about being followed.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15Two months ago, Dinar Idrisov tried to film police handling
0:24:15 > 0:24:19of an opposition rally.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22But he was attacked by three men.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26He's taking me to the place where it happened.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32TRANSLATION: I had a broken cheekbone under my eye.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34I had an eye contusion.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37I had many bruises on my face.
0:24:39 > 0:24:41Four bones in my back were broken and my arm,
0:24:41 > 0:24:44which I was using to protect myself.
0:24:47 > 0:24:49Dinar believes the attackers were from Russia's state
0:24:49 > 0:24:51security services.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59They were just using their fists? No weapons?
0:25:01 > 0:25:04They kicked you and you were on the ground?
0:25:09 > 0:25:11TRANSLATION: Their fighting technique suggested
0:25:11 > 0:25:14they were front-line police officers or security services,
0:25:14 > 0:25:16rather than hooligans or political opponents
0:25:16 > 0:25:18who would show some emotion.
0:25:18 > 0:25:26Whereas these people were emotionless.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34It's clear Dinar's feeling jumpy.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44He's worried that we're being watched.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06It soon becomes clear why we've been followed and filmed.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16One of the state TV channels runs a special report about me.
0:26:25 > 0:26:27As well as repeating the vandalism claim,
0:26:27 > 0:26:27As well as repeating the vandalism claim,
0:26:27 > 0:26:29As well as repeating the vandalism claim,
0:26:29 > 0:26:31it accuses me of making up stories about students and Cossacks
0:26:31 > 0:26:32I haven't even met.
0:26:42 > 0:26:48My police statement and passport details are leaked to the media.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51This is how things work in Vladimir Putin's Russia.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06The Kremlin wants us to believe that Sunday's presidential election
0:27:06 > 0:27:10is democracy in action.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22These elections, are they free and fair?
0:27:22 > 0:27:25Oh, absolutely, free and fair election.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27And I think the turnout will be exceeding 70%,
0:27:27 > 0:27:35as public opinion polls show.
0:27:40 > 0:27:42But everyone here knows who will win.
0:27:42 > 0:27:44The man accused of waging a new cold war.
0:27:44 > 0:27:46And the winner is?
0:27:47 > 0:27:51And the winner is going to be the President
0:27:51 > 0:27:52of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, there
0:27:52 > 0:27:55is no doubt about it.
0:28:01 > 0:28:05As for the banned presidential hopeful, he's now challenging
0:28:05 > 0:28:10Vladimir Putin in the only way he can.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13He's calling for voters to boycott the election.
0:28:15 > 0:28:19I'm appealing to people and trying to persuade them,
0:28:19 > 0:28:21this is not an election, you cannot participate in it
0:28:21 > 0:28:23because it's disgrace, it's immoral, it's awful,
0:28:23 > 0:28:31it's ugly and we cannot call this procedure an election.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37Vladimir Putin had two rivals he feared.
0:28:38 > 0:28:41One has been banned.
0:28:43 > 0:28:46The other, shot.
0:28:52 > 0:28:54To stand up to Vladimir Putin is to go head to head
0:28:54 > 0:28:57with the Russian state.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00And what kind of democracy is that?