Posted on 09/14/2022 9:49:54 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Over the weekend, we learned that a group of Russian officials in the Moscow area had issued a statement calling on Vladimir Putin to resign. A second group in St. Petersburg went a bit further, calling on the State Duma to charge Putin with high treason over his decision to invade Ukraine. So whatever happened to those guys? None of them have been subjected to defenistroika yet (Ed Morrissey came up with that, by the way, not me), at least that we know of. They haven’t even tragically “fallen into the sea” as people sometimes do in Russia these days. But some of them may be out of a job or at least be losing a chunk of money in the near future. One member of the St. Petersburgh municipal deputy group, Dmitry Palyuga, was summoned to police headquarters yesterday and fined $780 for “discrediting the Russian government.” More of his colleagues received a summons as well. (Newsweek)
A Russian politician who was part of a group that appealed to the country’s parliament last week to remove President Vladimir Putin from power on a charge of high treason, has been fined for “discrediting” the Russian government.
Dmitry Palyuga, a municipal deputy for Smolninskoe in St. Petersburg, was fined 47,000 rubles ($780), days after he and other members were accused of committing actions aimed at discrediting the Kremlin.
He announced the news on Twitter, adding that he intends to appeal the decision to fine him.
Four other members of the council where Palyuga serves received a summons to come and chat with the police. They similarly expect to be fined and all of them indicated they plan to appeal the decision.
There could be more on the way, of course. Russia’s Parliament already passed legislation allowing for prison terms of up to fifteen years for anyone found to be “spreading misinformation” about the “special military action” in Ukraine. Gee… I wonder where they came up with that idea. They didn’t get it from Joe Biden’s attempted Ministry of Truth, did they? We may never know.
Nikita Yuferev, another deputy who serves alongside Palyuga, predicted on social media that their entire council would be “dissolved” next week and replaced with some new governmental body more friendly to the current Kremlin regime. That move has not yet been officially announced, but it likely won’t come as a surprise to anyone if it happens. Putin’s spokesman told reporters yesterday that local officials must be “very careful” when criticizing the government. I think most of them are getting the message.
This group may not be the last to take the fall, however. Boris Nadezhdin, a former member of the Parliament recently said that it is “impossible for Russia to defeat Ukraine” and called for peace talks. It’s a fairly safe bet that he will be getting a visit or a phone call fairly soon. That’s just how things work in Putin’s Russia.
There’s something of a parallel between what we’re seeing in Russia and what’s been going on in China. We went through a period where the west was encouraging Russia to embrace capitalism and expand business opportunities for its citizens. We did the same thing with China for decades. The Chinese instead grabbed all of the money, took control of the global supply chain, and kept everything under the tight, authoritarian control of the Chinese Communist Party. In Russia, business expanded across the board, but almost all of it wound up being controlled by corrupt government officials and the oligarchs who grew fantastically wealthy supporting them. In neither country did much of the wealth trickle down to the common people. And now that the mask of civility is being ripped away in Russia by the events surrounding Putin’s war, his true nature is being fully revealed with every voice that is silenced and every person who disappears after criticizing him. But this is nothing new, really. He’s always been this way.
HarHarHar.
In Third World USA, the Effstapo just surrounds you at a Hardees drive-up window, sending a message to all the other would-be Trump supporters...
Sometimes it is OK to just have a thread about Russia.
I think they were invited to go on a fishing trip in the Baltic next weekend
I'm sorry.
Did thinking about our third-world gulag state with its rigged "elections" make you uncomfortable?
I now return you to your regularly-scheduled Hate Pootie fap.
They’re getting plutonium tea in small doses, until they start glowing in the dark.
Russia: Question Putin, get arrested by the FSB.
Amerika: Question Biden, get arrested by the FBI.
Hmmm…
Had it been the US, we could say Hillary’s friends offered a ride to some people and another had an appointment at night in Fort Marcy Park and a young woman intern named Mary was in a coffee place sprayed with gunfire that only hit her in a “robbery” with no money taken. Tip was a female intern “M” was going to tell on Bill Clinton.
Sometimes things happen.
Did any of them come back alive?
I agree. The comparison is obvious.
If someone thinks this is change of subject, then they have their little head in the sand.
Effstapo - great nomenclature.
One at a time, months apart. Similar to a vaccine-like unknown cause of death.
These guys spoke out against Putin because the Educated Elites they represent all want to Vacation in Spain when the Neva River freezes over in 3 months, so they speak out to show they are “fighting for their constituents”. Our Politicians do the same thing, then say “well I tried, but what can you do?” when they fail.
The Yee Haw! Bubba class outside of Moscow/St. Pete is all in with Putin. They have no idea Russia is in a quagmire with no end. They all think Russia is kicking butt and taking names and will be rolling into Kiev any day now.
Its like in the US. The Deep state knows that no one really listens to each other and the Propaganda trumps all, so the government doesn’t really care what people say, and Politicians just say what they have to say, just enough to say they did. Get your Safe and Effective shot. There is no border Crisis. Trans rights are Human rights.
Human nature is universal.
It’s a lot less messier than say..... falling out of a window.
Did they have their phones confiscated? It starts with phone confiscation...
I don’t always agree with you, but that’s a very good point.
That’s easy. They were ignored.
They 'voluntarily' resigned/recanted
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.