Russia, an Uncivilized Nation, must be OUT of the G-7
Filed under: Russia
It's truly amazing how, no matter what level of barbarity Russia reached yesterday, it can always surprise you with something even more repugnant today.
Last Sunday, a blog in Finland began circulating an appeal for financial support for a 22-year-old Russian named Yuri Chervochkin, a member of the "Other Russia" opposition group run by Garry Kasparov who had been brutally beaten by Ministry of Interior goons on November 22nd in the town of Serpukhov, about 100 kilometers south of Moscow, in the course of his efforts to support opposition groups in the coming Duma elections. Specifically, he was promoting a protest march that was to occur on November 24th.
But word did not get out soon enough. On December 12th, the Moscow Times reported that Chervochkin had succumbed to his injuries on Monday, December 10th and passed from the Earth. He had never regained consciousness. Other Russia reported that Chervochkin had been repeatedly threatened by Interior Ministry "police" to stop his organizing activities, a common occurrence among opposition party members, and that the authorities were impeding the family's efforts to bury their son, saying they intended to hold the body in the morgue indefinitely.
And then came the final outrage. Today, the Moscow Times reports that the Kremlin's police forces intervened to interrupt a bus full of Other Russia's leadership en route to Chervochkin's funeral, and then besmeared the event itself with their presence: "Half a dozen riot policemen wielding submachine guns stopped the buses, carrying members of the Other Russia opposition movement, at a checkpoint just outside Moscow. Denis Bilunov, an activist with the United Civil Front, which is part of The Other Russia, said the wake was very tense, as riot police stood by, smirking and talking, while people mourned Chervochkin. 'It was absolutely a disgrace the way they acted,' Bilunov said." Shown above is the funeral procession for this young Russian patriot.
The Times of London reported yesterday that Vladimir Putin has ordered the UK cultural institution The British Council to close its doors in Russia -- an act so far taken by only two other nations in the world, Burma and Iran. It's an act of cold war, retaliating for Britain's aggressive inquiry into the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, which the Kremlin is obstructing. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, justifiably outraged, called the Kremlin's action "totally unacceptable."
On top of that, the Associated Press is now reporting that yet another opposition activist has been seized by the authorities and chucked into an insane asylum, an event that will come as little surprise to Publius Pundit readers.
What more proof could anyone possibly ask for than this sordid tale of barbarity as evidence that U.S. Senator John McCain is right when he says Russia must be evicted from the G-7 group of civilized Western democracies?
del.icio.us | 
digg | 
technorati | 
stumble upon | 
furl | 
reddit