Well, “reverting to type” is one way to put, I suppose. I haven’t seen this reported here yet, so here goes:
www.hrw.org/…
The detention of at least 1,001 people at a Moscow protest on August 3, 2019 and use of excessive force against peaceful protesters represent further evidence of Russian authorities’ preference for repression over rights, Human Rights Watch said today.
Anyone care to bet Trump (or at least his semi-competent handlers) aren’t taking notes on this right now?
“The Russian government claims the protesters are disrupting city life, but based on what we saw on August 3 and on July 27, it’s not the activists but rather the police who are disrupting normal life,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Police have turned central Moscow into a special operation zone, attacking and beating people for peacefully walking the streets.”
I’m reminded of “Bloody Sunday”, which kicked off the 1905 revolution in Russia. Except now we have social media and a population who can read and write.
On August 3, Russia’s chief investigative agency also opened a criminal case on “carrying out financial operations with the use of money obtained by criminal means,” targeting the Anti-Corruption Fund, an organization led by Alexei Navalny, Russia’s leading opposition politician. The investigation alleges that foundation representatives were involved in laundering one billion rubles (approx. US$15 million), punishable by up to seven years in prison. Navalny is currently serving 30 days in jail on charges of calling for unsanctioned rallies in support of the unregistered candidates.
The authorities “investigating” the opposition, accusing them of crimes for which the current government are well-known to have engaged in? Anyone seeing a pattern here?
I don’t dare try to predict what might come from all this, either in Russia or here, but there’s a definite sense the populace aren’t happy with the status quo. Whether that translates into something more...remains to be seen.