In Russia, a Blogosphere Under Siege

Filed under: Russia

"I hate son-of-a-bitch cops"

I don't agree with the thesis that "policemen have retained the mindset of being a repressive cudgel in the hands of those in power." First, that it's the cops who have retained it. Secondly, it's not that it has been retained, but more simply that it has not been purged. It is garbage - and in Africa it is garbage - who become cops. The people who become cops are herd animals, rabble - the stupidest, most ignorant representatives of the living world. It would be great if in the in the center of every city in Russia, on the main square (in Syktyvkar, right in the center of Stefanovskaya Square, where the Christmas tree stands - so that everyone could see it) there stood an oven, like in Auschwitz, where ceremonially, every year - or better, twice a day (at noon and midnight, for example) - they incinerated a bad cop. The people would burn him. That would be a first step in cleansing society of cop-rabble trash.

That's a comment by a Russian blogger named Savva Terentyev which was posted last February on the blog of a Russian journalist named Boris Suranov in response to a post Suranov wrote about a police raid in their town on a local opposition newspaper (they live in the northern region of Komi Republic) during the election cycle. Suranov responded to the comment by stating: "It could be sort of carnival." (Original translation courtesy of La Russophobe).

The Russian government has now arrested Terentyev for writing this comment, and he is facing two years in prison and a fine amounting to half a year's average wages. This isn't the first time Russia has gone after a blogger for daring to challenge the status quo, nor will it be the last. Now, both Terentyev's comment and Suranov's post itself have apparently been purged from the blog, but Suranov is reporting the arrest and his blog now carries a photograph (mug shot) of Terentyev.

Even if you don't believe in the principle of free speech as a value in and of itself, and even if you choose to believe the speaker was expressing a literal desire rather than a philosophical point of confrontation, before judging this speaker you should remember what it is like to live under the repression of the Russian police. You can't possibly understand it fully, though, unless you actually have lived under it. They do not labor under any of the protections of civil liberties that exist in America (for instance, they can try a suspect over and over for the same offense, whilst in America a person can only be tried once), are fundamentally corrupt (in part because they are shamelessly underpaid) and routinely solicit bribes for safe passage, harass, beat, torture, arrest and imprison innocent citizens, including many foreigners and including dissidents who are doing nothing more than offering an alternative to the party in power. The horror of being confronted by them when you only earn $3 per hour is difficult to put into words, and Mr. Terentyev has made a stab at doing so. Anyone who knows anything about Russia knows that there are plenty of Russian policemen who deserve prosecution far more than Mr. Terentyev. Anyone who has lived in Russia knows what Mr. Terentyev is talking about. Click the jump to read a recent column from the Moscow Times by someone who lives there about what the Russian "police" are really like.

Remember, too, that there was a time when Russia would have treated Dostoevsky this way -- and did so (Pushkin too, for that matter). Maybe they, too, could have expressed themselves "differently" or "better" so as not to offend the regime. Even if you think this 21-year-old artistic kid should go to prison for writing a comment on a blog, where will it end? Who will be next? Maybe soon Suranov himself will be subject to arrest for the remark that prompted the comment, namely "policemen have retained the mindset of being a repressive cudgel in the hands of those in power." Doesn't this theoretically undermine the respect of citizens for the police? What if we replaced "policemen have" with "Putin has"? Arrest? Who among us is to say what words are "acceptable"? Are we willing to live in a world where others control the information and opinions we can access? That's the USSR, and it's not a world that can sustain itself for long. Didn't Russians already learn this lesson?

The Moscow Times
"Defending the Defenseless"
Yulia Latynina
Radio Host, Echo Moskvy
August 15, 2007

During a traffic jam in downtown St. Petersburg, a police car raced along the wrong side of the road. Pyotr Grigorovsky, who was driving his car in his own lane in the opposite direction, swerved his car to avoid the oncoming police vehicle, struck a pole and died. The police officer never even stopped. Hundreds of witnesses took note of the officer's license plate number. St. Petersburg drivers later demonstrated their condolences by placing black flags on their cars.

What is the probability that President Vladimir Putin will demand a full report of the investigation and that the police officer responsible for Grigorovsky's death will be punished? Zero. The police department has already responded by saying that the vehicle in question never left the station's garage that day. Moreover, the police said they would later settle scores with the "black flag" demonstrators.

Another story: A Moscow driver and immigrant from Tajikistan, Ashur Inoyatov, picked up a drunk FSB officer who had just left a casino. When Inoyatov asked the officer where he wanted to go, the officer for some reason took offense, pulled out his gun and started shooting. He emptied his entire clip but was so intoxicated that he ended up only wounding Inoyatov.

What is the likelihood that Putin will demand a full investigation of this incident, and more importantly, that Muscovites will stage demonstrations in support of the unfortunate Tajik? Zero. On the contrary, Inoyatov was deported.

What has happened in Russia lately? A St. Petersburg police officer caused the wrongful death of an innocent driver and left the scene of the crime; an innocent Tajik was deported for having the bad luck of being the victim of a crime committed by an FSB officer; a Moscow court seized 100 percent of Russneft's shares after owner Mikhail Gutseriyev publicly stated that the government had been pressuring him; and Russia sent military forces into Ingushetia.

And what have we seen on the news? We have seen that Russian strategic bombers flew over NATO bases, that those nasty Georgians have again slandered us by claiming that a Russian jet fired a rocket on their territory, and that the persecution of Russians in the police state of France has reached such a scale that a 12-year-old Russian boy was forced to leap from his sixth-floor apartment.

Now let's perform a different experiment. How would it sound if we were to switch the Russian and French news reports around?

"A French police officer caused a fatal accident on the Champs Elysees and then fled the scene. After local drivers staged a protest, police arrested the organizers of the demonstration."

Is this possible? Of course not.

"In the republic of Bashkortostan a police squad attempted to enter the home of a family of Tajik nationals to check their residency registration. The father escaped through a window; his son attempted a similar escape but was seriously injured when he fell. Local residents waged a demonstration against police brutality. President Putin demanded a full investigation of the incident."

Possible? No way. Terrible? Yes.

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