This is how Vladimir Putin (70) effectively put an end to his critics.
The regime views these as enemies of Russia and Putin. They are fighting for civil rights, basic human rights and democracy, as well as exposing crimes in the Soviet state, Professor Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen of the Aleksanteri Institute in Helsinki tells VG.
– According to the paranoid point of view of the Putin regime, which, unfortunately, is shared by many Russians, these people should remain silent, says the Finnish professor.
This week, prominent opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
– The Russian authorities continue to terrorize their opponents with prison – and the regime is becoming more and more brutal, the independent online newspaper writes Medusa Under the heading “Putin’s prison sentence”.
On Tuesday, the State Duma voted to hand down life sentences to those convicted of treason – thus intensifying the fight against opponents of the regime.
VG considered seven of the most famous judgments after the start of the invasion of Ukraine:
Alexei Navalny: Nine years
In March 2022, the most famous opposition name was found guilty of fraud and sentenced to nine years in prison.
Before, he is serving a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence in a penal colony for breach of duty to report after a previous suspended sentence.
An investigation is also underway against him for alleged extremism. This could lead to an additional 10 years in prison.
His spokeswoman, Kira Garmisch, says he could be sentenced to 35 years in prison.
Vladimir Kara-Murza: 25 years old
Kara-Murza was sentenced to 25 years in a penal colony after he criticized the military.
Kara-Murza herself said that “my case represents the first case in post-Soviet Russia where public criticism of the authorities is officially defined as ‘treason'”.
Kara-Murza – like Navalny – could have stayed abroad and escaped such punishment, but she deliberately chose to return to Russia.
– His lawyer, Vadim Prokhorov, tells Deutsche Welle that he is practically a death sentence.
Ivan Safronov: 22 years old
The famous journalist has been imprisoned for 22 years for treason.
He turned down an offer to serve only 12 years in prison in exchange for a guilty plea.
In July 2020, the security services arrested him, on charges of collecting confidential information about the Russian Defense and Security Service and sharing it with the intelligence service of one of the NATO countries.
Safronov denies the criminal charge and called the trial a farce. He says that all of his journalism has been based on open sources.
Sergey Furgal: 22 years old
The former Russian ruler was sentenced to 22 years in a penal camp for killing two contracting businessmen nearly 20 years ago. Furgal was arrested in the summer of 2020 and has always maintained his innocence.
His supporters believe the charges are politically motivated, and after his arrest thousands of people demonstrated for weeks in support of Furgal and against President Vladimir Putin.
Yuri Dmitriev: 15 years old
Over the course of 30 years, Dmitriev discovered mass graves, excavated, and identified thousands of victims of the Stalinist regime of terror.
He was first sentenced to 13 years in prison for sexually assaulting his adopted daughter. This sentence was raised to 15 years.
According to human rights organizations, these are fabricated charges.
Elga Yashin: 8.5 years old
The former politician who was critical of Putin was sentenced to 8.5 years in a penal colony, for spreading “false information” about the Bucha massacre. He was convicted under the new article of the law on “false news” about the Russian armed forces.
Jashin said on his YouTube channel that Russian soldiers were behind the Bucha massacre.
Alexei Gorenov: 7 years old
The local politician made a statement criticizing the Russian invasion of Ukraine and was sentenced to seven years in prison for “fake news”.
He was the first to be convicted after the new section of the law on “intentional dissemination of disinformation about the Russian armed forces” came into effect.
Gorinov was a local politician in the Moscow region who stated, among other things, that he believed that civil society should stop the war and that Russian soldiers should withdraw from Ukrainian territory.
Long sentences are revenge for those who dare stand up to Putin, says Inna Sangadjieva of the Helsinki Committee.
It’s a way Putin and the regime retain power. Putin believed that the war would help him stay in power until 2036. Now the war is not developing as he intended. He has no other plan, and this brutality is a way to stay in power.
– What can you say about these seven gentlemen?
– There are five politicians, a historian and a journalist. Putin is getting rid of the most dangerous adversaries by imposing higher and higher sanctions. At the same time, it is a signal to anyone else who intends to stand up to the regime, for example by running for the presidential elections in 2024.
Russia will hold presidential elections in 2024. The terms are now six years. Putin initially served two terms from 2000 to 2008, then the constitution prevented him from running in 2008, but in 2012 he could be elected again as president, then the terms were also extended to six years. So Putin could now theoretically sit out until 2036 if he is re-elected in 2024 and 2030.
Thus Sanjadjieva cites three reasons for the severe punishments now:
- Presidential elections next year.
- Losses suffered by Prussia in the war in Ukraine.
- Intimidating others to protest against the war by signaling, and supporting security structures, the Federal Security Service, which has a monopoly on the use of violence against citizens on behalf of the state.
– It is being talked about in the independent Russian media Stalin eraStalin eraIn the 1930s, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin cracked down on dissent. In the years 1937-1938, approximately 700,000 people were shot and an equal number were sent to Gulag labor camps. once again. do you agree?
In terms of spreading fear among people, this is similar to the Stalin era. Perhaps Putin wants to evoke memories from that time. But at the same time, we live in a completely different time, with a completely different technology, we do not have the ideology and mass deportations, as under Stalin. But this is Putin’s way of scaring Russian society.
Professor Tynkkynen explains the falsification of history under Putin:
– It is not permissible to criticize the illegal, corrupt and violent actions of the current and previous regimes. It is part of the historical policy of Putin’s Russia, but through these “trials” a direct message is also sent to the Russian people: if you oppose the regime, you will be severely punished. The ultimate goal is to keep Russians passive with fear, says Veli-Pekka-Tenkinen.
He summarizes the following:
Putin and his entourage are very afraid of a political revolt that would challenge or bring down the regime, and therefore even the smallest opposition must be crushed.
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