Get this! Vladimir Putin vows to end police repression in Russia ...no way!
In his manifesto for the March 2012 elections where he plans to take an unprecedented third Kremlin term, Putin also promised to build a strong Russia and retaliate against Western states that failed to listen to Moscow
The manifesto, posted on his new campaign site putin2012. Ru, has been published one month after the start of anti-Putin protests which rallied tens of thousands and posed the biggest challenge to his rule
Putin wrote in the election programme, "We need to rethink the whole system of public security and need to stop the extremely repressive tendency" of the security forces in Russia
"This situation is deforming our society and is making it morally unhealthy. The actions of the security forces should be aimed at protecting and supporting legal business – not fighting it."
The behaviour of the security forces in Russia is seen as one of Russia's biggest scourges due to widespread corruption and iron-fisted tactics. The promise by Putin may be seen as a concession to the protest movement
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"We will ensure the accountability of the authorities towards the society that they are working for," Putin said, proposing "effective government under the control of the people."
He said the widespread practice in Russia of keeping suspects in pretrial detention should be reduced and as well as the use of jail sentences for less significant crimes
Putin also vowed that world powers would not be able to make decisions "behind the back of Russia or avoiding Russia and her interests.", But in a stern warning to the West
"Unilateral actions by our partners that fail to take into account Russia's opinion and her interests will receive a corresponding response," Putin wrote
He promised to create "strong Russia in a complex world"
The presidential elections are now seen by analysts as a far tougher challenge for Putin than before the rallies that brought together tens of thousands of people in Moscow breaking the taboo against mass protest in Russia
Need a second round, for the first time in his career, He is still widely expected to win the presidential elections but opinion polls have predicted he may
