Posted on 06/17/2012 12:12:40 AM PDT by Olog-hai
Armed Russian police raided the homes of anti-Putin activists ahead of a mass demonstration in a major new crackdown on dissent.
The fresh wave of arrests was today compared with the days of Stalin by opponents on Russian language Twitter.
Hello1937 was trending on the social networking site—referring to the year 1937, which was seen as the worst for Stalin purges.
The coordinated early-morning raids targeted the young politicians who were thought to represent the biggest threat to Putin's 12-year rule.
The Investigative Committee said the raids targeted Alexei Navalny as well as Ilya Yashin and Sergei Udaltsov over a previous demonstration 'that ended in mass disturbances'.
'I never thought we will go back to be a country of such repressions,' said 30-year-old television presenter and campaigner Ksenia Sobchak, who was targeted.
'Most disgusting is that completely unlawfully people can storm in, simply rob you, and laugh at your private letters.'
Other Putin foes warned of a return to Stalin-style tactics to suppress freedoms.
More than a dozen officers with assault rifles beat down the doors of leading anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny, 36, a figure rapidly emerging as Putin's most effective foe. …
The raids signal a new get-tough policy by the Russian elite—and Navalny together with other key opposition figures could face jail for up to ten years over clashes with police. …
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Armed Russian police raid homes of anti-Putin activists in huge crackdown which critics describe as a 'return to the days of Stalin'
Why doesn’t they mention $1,5 million in cash fond at Sobchak’s residence stuffed into countless envelopes to pay Occupy Moscow protesters?
Soros’s fingerprints are all the way around.
If it is a Stalinists purge why are these people still avile and parading?
Source?
Russian police seize $1.7 million in cash from socialite turned opposition figure
BTW, Sobchak is a daughter of notorious former liberal mayor of St. Peterburg who allegedly turned city counsil into a criminal enterpise in earlier 1990s and brought Putin into politics. He hired Pitin as a deputy upon his return from Germany and resignation from KGB.
While it’s not uncommon for wealthy Russians to keep large amounts of cash at home, authorities are likely to use her wealth to illustrate their depiction of the opposition as a bunch of spoiled rich kids at odds with the majority of Russia’s population. …Looks like the government is being populist and anti-wealthy here. I don’t particularly get convinced by defense of a particular former KGB agent . . .
Oh, c’mon. Soros targets everything. He was involved in Russia at the time and got his ass kicked. Learn Khodorkovski and Berezovski. Recent Russian unrest is a nice opportunity for him to start again.
BTW, I don’t like Putin but it doesn’t mean I have to like his opposition.
Russia is considered to be an authoritarian regime by Wikipedia.
Take a look.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index
Also, for some reason Wikipedia considers the USA to be a “full democracy”.
This is NOT true.
The USA is a federal constitution-based republic and not a democracy.
Soros does not target absolutely everything. The EU is his ideal rather than his target, for example.
This rating is complete nonsence anyway. You make fool of yourself judging such a minor details as soon as it all sucks.
Europe has a kind of society useful for him. He has nothing to destabilize there.
You make a fool of yourself when you suggest that Soros is funding the anti-Putin protests in Russia.
It’s a mirror of Putin’s society though.
What do you really know about Putin’s society?:)
Well, to me there aren’t single center within Russian protest movement. The majority of Putin’s opponents are communists of all types, but there are tiny but very loud liberal fraction supported by Soros. I can’t see Navalny or Sobchak as a real opposition. Both are offsprings of elites and they have nothing to offer. It is one thing to expose corruption and ‘authoritarian’ regime. Another thing to have a plan and energy to make it work another way.
Putin was adeqate for Russia decade ago, today they need another set of ideas and methods to make another step.
Unfortunately, I can’t see leaders to do that.
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