23:50, 25 April 2007

S. Gannushkina: Yeltsin had flexibility and force to end the war in Chechnya

Svetlana Gannushkina, member of the Council under the RF President for Promoting Development of Civil Society Institutes and Human Rights, thinks that Boris Yeltsin was a strong and flexible person. "When he understood that what happened in Chechnya was a terrible crime, he managed to stop it," she said in her interview to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"The man died, it is a shame to say anything bad about him. In the eyes of many people Yeltsin was certainly a strong personality having charisma. The person who proved capable, at least, to declare his ideas and beliefs, which were distinct from what he had professed in his previous life. He proved capable to learn and change," the human rights activist said.

Svetlana Gannushkina recognizes that during B. N. Yeltsin's ruling the country, the society had more freedom and democracy.

Author: Vyacheslav Feraposhkin, CK correspondent