Russian State TV Protester

Politics & Elections
1

I just saw a video of her leaving a hearing after paying a fine. With as hammer-fisted as Putin is, why isn’t she already in jail for life, or god forbid, worse. I was happy to see her walking away with a smile on her face, and more charges are certainly to follow, but I am surprised that she is able to be out and about.

2

{Never mind.}

3

Theories:

  1. The legal process is still playing out and she could still end up in jail.
  2. They’re using lenience as propaganda. If everyone says that they’re evil dictators, having a high profile case where they don’t act like evil dictators helps to hide all the other cases where they didn’t grant lenience.
  3. The case was explicitly set up for the same reasons as theory #2.

I’d land in options 1 or 2. If she ends up going to jail, it was 1. If she doesn’t, it was 2. If she shows up down the line with a promotion / important position in the government then it was 3.

We’ll have to wait a year or two, to find out.

4

Why should they go to the trouble of a trial, thereby giving her another platform to speak out against the government, when they can just surreptitiously poison her with Novichok a few months from now?

5

Not sure a trial would give her a platform to speak out. She could be shackled, gagged, and hooded in her trial. I’m surprised she isn’t being tortured already. She’s got some guts to do what she did.

6

I thought I heard something about 14 hours of interrogation.

7

Our local news reported on-air yesterday that she was already in prison for 15 years. Thanks KRON4!

8

Sorry I don’t have a cite, but I recall reading a while back that one of Russia’s tactics with demonstrators and activists is to re-arrest on new charges every few months. Apparently this is intended to keep the individual ever-paranoid about what’s next.

This same article claimed that they will also go after random nobodies who are simply seen at demonstrations months or even years after the event, again as a way of sending a message that you’re never in the clear from that thing you did.

9

I think we blew right past that when he said, “I am convinced that such a natural and necessary cleansing of society will only strengthen our country" in reference to “scum and traitors”.

Reminds me of a line from Community “There was a time and a place for subtlety, and that time was before Scary Movie”