Some of the victims tried, unsuccessfully, to sue the police for brutality.īolotnaya was a striking example of the personal courage of so many of Russia’s political activists. They displayed remarkable dignity and courage, charged with assault and rioting when they themselves were the ones being brutally beaten by riot police. Peaceful protesters who had participated in the largest demonstrations since the fall of the Soviet Union in a Russia whose Constitution specifically guarantees freedom of speech and assembly, suddenly found themselves criminal defendants in the Bolotnaya case. In the days and years following the Bolotnaya protests, dozens of innocent people have been subjected to interrogations, investigations, prison and much more. ![]() Now I’m going to ruin their lives.” These words were apparently a call to action, because the first arrests began shortly thereafter. Putin is rumored to have told his inner circle later that evening: “They ruined my special day. The Kremlin responded ruthlessly, with riot police, batons and mass detentions. On May 6, 2012, the eve of Putin’s third inauguration, hundreds of thousands of Russians of all political stripes took to the streets of central Moscow to demand a fair election after learning of widespread election fraud. ![]() Last week was the anniversary of the Bolotnaya Square protests in Moscow. Not only is the Kremlin using the symbol of the horrific suffering and sacrifices of tens of millions of Soviet citizens to justify and even spread its own aggression into Europe, but it distorts its own history while reverting to a repressive climate against its own citizens with unmistakable signs of fascism. ![]() While Russia is raging with “Victory Day” fever, and, incidentally, sponsoring celebrations of Russia’s defeat over fascism in some 70 countries this week, many inside Russia also see not a small amount of hypocrisy and exploitation.
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