Repression And Violence Presaged Boris Nemtsov's Assassination

The atmosphere of repression and violence in Russia that forms the backdrop of the assassination of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov is the subject of an article in today's once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle.  It's rather chilling to read how completely Russian President Tsar Vladimir "Vlad the Invader" Putin has returned his country to a state of paranoia and violence not seen since the days of Joseph Stalin.  Here are snippets, but read the article if you can for the full picture of the tragedy that's befallen this nation whose potential continues to be thwarted by its malevolent rulers:

Putin gave official sanction to the sharpened tone against the political opposition a year ago, many of his critics say, when he warned that “a fifth column” and “national traitors” were undermining Russia from within. Banners soon hung in the heart of Moscow that said Nemtsov and fellow opposition leaders were “aliens among us.” And Russia’s powerful state-run television stations were quickly suffused with grim tales of Western-backed crimes against their countrymen in Ukraine, further fueling popular disbelief that any Russian could support the other side.

Of course, the Russian government has its own version of our own Republican Party's Fox "News", which propagandizes shamelessly:

State-run television is a key linchpin of the Kremlin’s strategy to foster anti-Western sentiments, analysts say. Trusted far more than Soviet-era broadcasts ever were, networks transmit a skillful blend of fact and spin, unrelentingly promoting the idea that Russia is a nation under attack from inside and out. Their budgets have been bolstered this year, even as other state agencies have been forced to cut.  [snip]

Ahead of a nationalist rally held less than a week before Nem­tsov’s death, slick promotions ran constantly on federal news channels imploring people to turn out. The protest, held on the first anniversary of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych’s ouster, was billed as an “anti-Maidan” rally to prevent what happened in Kiev from repeating in Moscow.

If you've got the sense that playing the victimization and "aliens among us" cards by Putin's kleptocratic dictatorship sounds familiar, it's what we've been hearing from the far-right in the United States (and Europe) for decades.  That kinship among reactionaries may be why so many Republicans swooned over Putin's as a "real leader", as opposed to their twice- popularly- elected President.

Putin Has Pussy Riot Members Detained

For those of you who like bullshit with your borscht:

This morning, Maria Alekhina and Nadezdha Tolokonnikova, two member of the protest group Pussy Riot, were sitting in a McDonalds in Sochi when "around fifty" plainclothes police officers arrested them "for robbery," according to their Twitter feeds. They were out of prison for a little less than two months, just enough for the world to feel slightly better about attending the gangster Olympics. And now the facade from Russia's Potemkin human rights has been abruptly pulled away. If Putin's plan with the Sochi Olympics was to mock democratic values, to show that everyone in the West can be played for suckers, and to demonstrate our hypocrisy to the rest of the world, he has completely succeeded.

After questioning, the two were released without charges being filed. Let's hope this causes much more trouble for Czar Vladimir than for these two courageous women.

UPDATE:  Russian security goons broke up an impromptu performance by Pussy Riot in Sochi by pepper spraying and lashing the group's members with whips.  (Remember this when you tune in to NBC's "nothing to see here, move along" coverage of the Olympics).  From now on, "Cossacks" will be synonymous to "cowards."

(Photo:  Maria, left, and Nadezdha)

Amnesty For (Some) Russian Activists

Russian Czar President Vladimir Putin granted amnesty to former oil tycoon and political rival Mikhail Khodorkovsky and to Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina of Pussy Riot, in moves generally interpreted as "please to get off my case about human rights violations prior to the Sochi Winter Olympics."  Khodorkovsky has already pledged to stay involved in human rights issues in Russia and, as for the two Pussy Rioters:

Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova was freed from prison on Monday under an amnesty that allowed for her early release from a two-year sentence for a protest in a church against President Vladimir Putin.

Tolokonnikova shouted "Russia without Putin" after she was freed from a prison in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk. Bandmate Maria Alyokhina was released from a different jail hours earlier and dismissed the amnesty as a propaganda stunt.

Meanwhile, on-going repression of environmental activists and recently-passed homophobic laws make it clear that, as Ms. Alyokhina noted, the amnesty for the "star" prisoners was a propaganda stunt - and a futile, ham-fisted one at that.

Czar Putin's "Feudal" Regime

While the world is watching events unfold in Egypt, the political repression continues apace in Vladimir Putin's Russia, temporary refuge of freedom fighter one Edward Snowden.  Alexei Navalny, an anti-corruption opposition leader facing a 6-year sentence on trumped-up theft charges, has labeled the Putin regime a "feudal order" that must be brought down.  Navalny isn't the only example of Putin repression:

By week’s end, it was clear to anyone who held out hope to the contrary that the future here looks more and more repressive. The authorities appeared intent on using all their resources — police, courts, legislature and media — to pursue that end and silence dissent for years to come. [snip]

Oppressive laws have flowed steadily from Russia’s parliament over the past year, making it illegal to hurt the feelings of religious believers, imposing limits on protests and forcing nongovernmental organizations such as election monitors to register as foreign agents if they receive money from abroad.

Laws signed by Putin last week limit the rights of gays. One bans gay pride rallies and makes it illegal to give minors any information about homosexuality. Another prevents adoptions by same-sex couples. The law says it must prevent “artificial imposition of untraditional sexual behavior and spiritual suffering and stress, which, according to psychologists, are often experienced by children with same-sex parents.”

 Sounds like a regime a Stalinist or teahadist could love.
 

Pussy Riot Update

Via Reuters:

"Two female members of Russian punk group Pussy Riot convicted of protesting against President Vladimir Putin in a cathedral have been sent to prisons far from Moscow despite requesting to serve out their terms in the capital, a lawyer said on Monday.

"Maria Alyokhina, 24, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, were convicted of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" in August and sentenced to two years in jail, a punishment that many in the West said was too harsh. [snip]

"A third convicted member of Pussy Riot, Yekaterina Samutsevich, was released on appeal when a court suspended her sentence after her lawyer argued that she had been pulled away from the cathedral's altar before the protest song began."

More Putin "Managed Democracy."

Pussy Riot Sentenced

Russian feminist rock trio (ahem) Pussy Riot has been given a 2 year sentence for "hooliganism," stemming from their anti-Putin performance at the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow. While defense lawyers promised they'll file what will almost certainly be a hopeless appeal, one of them, Mark Feygin, indicated the trio would not be cowed, saying "Under no circumstances will the girls ask for a pardon (from Putin). They will not beg and humiliate themselves before such a bastard."

And Putin's "managed democracy," which is neither managed nor a democracy, rolls on.

Free Pussy Riot!

The increasingly repressive regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin has its latest victims: three women punk rockers from the band [ahem] Pussy Riot. The three (Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, and Yekaterina Samutsevich) went on trial today charged with "hooliganism" for a brief performance inside the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow. During the performance, which was meant to highlight the close ties between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Putin regime, the three sang "Throw Putin out." The women could face 7 years in prison for what would be at most a misdemeanor (trespass?) in most civilized countries.

Putin promised to bring a "managed democracy" to Russia. Time is proving that the only thing that's being managed is the destruction of freedom and civil liberties.