Viktor Alksnis
Encyclopedia
Viktor Alksnis is an ethnic Latvian Russian politician and former Soviet Air Force
colonel. He is the chairman of Russian Center of Free Technologies, an organization intended to promote Free Software
and open standard
s in Russia. He is a former member of the USSR Supreme Soviet, a member of the Russian All-People's Union
and has also represented the Rodina (Motherland-National Patriotic Union)
party in the Russian State Duma
. From 2003 to 2007, he represented the People's Union
party in the Fourth Duma.
Due to his political views and personal style, Alksnis was nicknamed "the Black Colonel
", an allusion to the Soviet term "Black Colonels" for the Greek military junta of 1967-1974
.
was the head of the Soviet Air Force. He also took part in the military tribunal for the Case of Trotskyist Anti-Soviet Military Organization
, which sentenced Mikhail Tukhachevsky
and other high-ranking Soviet officers to death on Stalin's order. However, only eight months later, Yakov Alksnis himself was also arrested and executed.
Alksnis's grandmother spent 14 years in labor camps and his father was discriminated for being the son of an "enemy of the people".
During the destalinization of late 1950s Yakov Alksnis was posthumously rehabilitated; the Air Forces college in Riga was named in his honour. Despite these Stalin-era persecutions of his family members, Viktor Alksnis became a staunch supporter of the Soviet political system.
In 1973 Alksnis graduated from the Riga Higher Military Aviation Engineering School named for his grandfather as a qualified military radio engineer.
Alksnis's Latvian heritage was the subject of slander allegations in 2007 involving comments on the Internet.
Viktor Alksnis was a strong opponent of the breakup of the Soviet Union
and of the independence of the Baltic States
. He claims that the Baltic states are apartheid regimes, that the Russian population in these states suffers repression.
In 1989 he was elected into the Supreme Council of the USSR. In 1990 he was elected to the Supreme Council of Latvian SSR. In 1990, he was one of the founders of a hard-line group "Soyuz
" within the USSR Supreme Soviet. He once proposed the ousting of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev
from power, dissolving the parliament, outlawing all parties, the declaration of martial law
and the handing of power to a Military "Committee of National Salvation", which would avoid the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
He has described the internationally non-recognized Transnistrian Republic
as the base from which the restoration of the Soviet Union would begin.
In later years Alksnis claimed to be a principal figure behind the Riga
OMON
, known for opposing the secession of Latvia from the USSR and actions such as the Soviet OMON assaults on Lithuanian border posts
.
He was designated persona non grata
in Latvia after he left the country in 1992. since that time he has taken part in Russian politics, representing left-wing and nationalist positions. Alksnis was one of the leaders of the National Salvation Front
that united nationalist and communist movements that opposed Yeltsin's policies. In 2005, he was named persona non grata in Ukraine
as well, after he called for a Russian-Ukrainian border revision while speaking at a rally in Simferopol
, Crimea
.
In 2007, Alksnis launched a campaign to promote the use of Free Software
such as the Linux
operating system in Russian state institutions to secure software independence.
In February 2008 he joined forces with Aleksandr Ponosov, a school teacher accused of software piracy, to form Center of Free Technology, a non-profit initiative which will research methods of usage of Free Software
in the Russian education system.
Alksnis has met with project coordinator Aleksey Bragin to promote the development of the ReactOS
operating system. He also invited Richard Stallman
, the founder of the GNU
project and Free Software Foundation
to Moscow. The visit took place in March 2008.
and the United States
are enemies of Iran
's peaceful nuclear program, and their hostile attitude towards Iran is an attempt to cover-up the United States' mistakes in Iraq
.
Soviet Air Force
The Soviet Air Force, officially known in Russian as Военно-воздушные силы or Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily and often abbreviated VVS was the official designation of one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces...
colonel. He is the chairman of Russian Center of Free Technologies, an organization intended to promote Free Software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
and open standard
Open standard
An open standard is a standard that is publicly available and has various rights to use associated with it, and may also have various properties of how it was designed . There is no single definition and interpretations vary with usage....
s in Russia. He is a former member of the USSR Supreme Soviet, a member of the Russian All-People's Union
Russian All-People's Union
Russian All-People's Union was a Russian nationalist political party, formed in October 1991, in 2001 it merged into Narodnaya Volya. Its leader was Sergey Baburin....
and has also represented the Rodina (Motherland-National Patriotic Union)
Rodina
Rodina or Motherland-National Patriotic Union was one of the four parties that controlled seats in the Russian legislature in 2003-2007...
party in the Russian State Duma
State Duma
The State Duma , common abbreviation: Госду́ма ) in the Russian Federation is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia , the upper house being the Federation Council of Russia. The Duma headquarters is located in central Moscow, a few steps from Manege Square. Its members are referred to...
. From 2003 to 2007, he represented the People's Union
People's Union (Russia)
People's Union , formerly known as Party of National Revival "Narodnaya Volya" , was a Russian nationalist party created in December 2001. It was led by a veteran Russian nationalist politician Sergey Baburin...
party in the Fourth Duma.
Due to his political views and personal style, Alksnis was nicknamed "the Black Colonel
Black Colonel
Black Colonel may refer to one of the following:* John Farquharson, 3rd of Inverey*Viktor Alksnis, Russian politician*Black Colonels was a Soviet political derogatory term for the Greek military junta of 1967-1974....
", an allusion to the Soviet term "Black Colonels" for the Greek military junta of 1967-1974
Greek military junta of 1967-1974
The Greek military junta of 1967–1974, alternatively "The Regime of the Colonels" , or in Greece "The Junta", and "The Seven Years" are terms used to refer to a series of right-wing military governments that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974...
.
Family history
In the 1930s, Alksnis's grandfather, Yakov AlksnisYakov Alksnis
Yakov Ivanovich Alksnis was the commander of Red Army Air Forces in 1931–1937.Jēkabs Alksnis was born in a farmer's family in Naukšēni parish, Vidzeme . He attended school in Ramnieki and a teachers seminary in Valmiera , where he joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party...
was the head of the Soviet Air Force. He also took part in the military tribunal for the Case of Trotskyist Anti-Soviet Military Organization
Case of Trotskyist Anti-Soviet Military Organization
The Case of Trotskyist Anti-Soviet Military Organization was a 1937 secret trial of the high command of the Red Army, orchestrated by Joseph Stalin as part of the Great Purge.-Defendants:...
, which sentenced Mikhail Tukhachevsky
Mikhail Tukhachevsky
Mikhail Nikolayevich Tukhachevsky was a Marshal of the Soviet Union, commander in chief of the Red Army , and one of the most prominent victims of Joseph Stalin's Great Purge.-Early life:...
and other high-ranking Soviet officers to death on Stalin's order. However, only eight months later, Yakov Alksnis himself was also arrested and executed.
Alksnis's grandmother spent 14 years in labor camps and his father was discriminated for being the son of an "enemy of the people".
During the destalinization of late 1950s Yakov Alksnis was posthumously rehabilitated; the Air Forces college in Riga was named in his honour. Despite these Stalin-era persecutions of his family members, Viktor Alksnis became a staunch supporter of the Soviet political system.
In 1973 Alksnis graduated from the Riga Higher Military Aviation Engineering School named for his grandfather as a qualified military radio engineer.
Alksnis's Latvian heritage was the subject of slander allegations in 2007 involving comments on the Internet.
Attitude to the Breakup of the USSR
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and of the independence of the Baltic States
Baltic states
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
. He claims that the Baltic states are apartheid regimes, that the Russian population in these states suffers repression.
In 1989 he was elected into the Supreme Council of the USSR. In 1990 he was elected to the Supreme Council of Latvian SSR. In 1990, he was one of the founders of a hard-line group "Soyuz
Soyuz (faction)
Soyuz was a faction in the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR. The faction was critical of Perestroika and liberal reforms; it was opposed to de-centralization of the Soviet Union...
" within the USSR Supreme Soviet. He once proposed the ousting of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
from power, dissolving the parliament, outlawing all parties, the declaration of martial law
Martial law
Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...
and the handing of power to a Military "Committee of National Salvation", which would avoid the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
He has described the internationally non-recognized Transnistrian Republic
Transnistria
Transnistria is a breakaway territory located mostly on a strip of land between the Dniester River and the eastern Moldovan border to Ukraine...
as the base from which the restoration of the Soviet Union would begin.
In later years Alksnis claimed to be a principal figure behind the Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
OMON
OMON
OMOH is a generic name for the system of special units of militsiya within the Russian and earlier the Soviet MVD...
, known for opposing the secession of Latvia from the USSR and actions such as the Soviet OMON assaults on Lithuanian border posts
Soviet OMON assaults on Lithuanian border posts
Several Soviet OMON assaults on Lithuanian border posts occurred in 1991, after Lithuania declared its independence from the Soviet Union on March 11, 1990. As a Soviet republic, the Lithuanian SSR did not have a state border with customs or checkpoints...
.
He was designated persona non grata
Persona non grata
Persona non grata , literally meaning "an unwelcome person", is a legal term used in diplomacy that indicates a proscription against a person entering the country...
in Latvia after he left the country in 1992. since that time he has taken part in Russian politics, representing left-wing and nationalist positions. Alksnis was one of the leaders of the National Salvation Front
National Salvation Front (Russia)
The National Salvation Front was a broad coalition of communist, socialist and ultra-nationalist movements against the reforms in Russia. The front was organized on 24 October 1992...
that united nationalist and communist movements that opposed Yeltsin's policies. In 2005, he was named persona non grata in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
as well, after he called for a Russian-Ukrainian border revision while speaking at a rally in Simferopol
Simferopol
-Russian Empire and Civil War:The city was renamed Simferopol in 1784 after the annexation of the Crimean Khanate to the Russian Empire by Catherine II of Russia. The name Simferopol is derived from the Greek, Συμφερόπολις , translated as "the city of usefulness." In 1802, Simferopol became the...
, Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
.
Free software advocacy campaign
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
such as the Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
operating system in Russian state institutions to secure software independence.
In February 2008 he joined forces with Aleksandr Ponosov, a school teacher accused of software piracy, to form Center of Free Technology, a non-profit initiative which will research methods of usage of Free Software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
in the Russian education system.
Alksnis has met with project coordinator Aleksey Bragin to promote the development of the ReactOS
ReactOS
ReactOS is an open source computer operating system intended to be binary compatible with application software and device drivers made for Microsoft Windows NT versions 5.x and up...
operating system. He also invited Richard Stallman
Richard Stallman
Richard Matthew Stallman , often shortened to rms,"'Richard Stallman' is just my mundane name; you can call me 'rms'"|last= Stallman|first= Richard|date= N.D.|work=Richard Stallman's homepage...
, the founder of the GNU
GNU
GNU is a Unix-like computer operating system developed by the GNU project, ultimately aiming to be a "complete Unix-compatible software system"...
project and Free Software Foundation
Free Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation is a non-profit corporation founded by Richard Stallman on 4 October 1985 to support the free software movement, a copyleft-based movement which aims to promote the universal freedom to create, distribute and modify computer software...
to Moscow. The visit took place in March 2008.
Views on global politics
In 2006, Alksnis said in an interview that IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
are enemies of Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
's peaceful nuclear program, and their hostile attitude towards Iran is an attempt to cover-up the United States' mistakes in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
.