I thought about posting a thread before, but it seems like the situation's getting ever crazier each week...
Lemme see if I can recap it chronologically...
We all know Vladimir Putin is Russia's president, right? While in theory the country's a democracy, Russia is in effect really a dictatorship. Ever since Yeltsin stepped down in early 2000, Putin has either been president or prime minister (with Dmitry Medvedev filling the other role...and it's a public secret he's really just Putin's puppet).
Has there been political opposition? Yes. Sort of. But thus far, nothing really serious. I'll admit it wasn't much my cup of tea (what can I say? I don't even speak the language). But tensions are really rising.
Enter Alexai Navalny. A major leader of protests against Putin for quite some years. As a result, he was trialed for alledgedly stealing 500'000$, which he - of course - denied. His detainment hasn't stopped protests and riots. Perhaps that was what caused authorities to change his sentence to a suspended one? I don't really know. But some time later he was poisoned. Well...Russian doctors didn't find anything, so he was flewn over to Germany where they (alledgedly) found out he was poisoned with nerve gas. On Putin's orders, according to Navalny (note: Putin's government has denied any involvement).
When he got back - this is a couple weeks ago - he was promptly arrested. Reason according to the Kremlin: flying to Germany counts as a violation of parole.
Result: riots. Massive riots. And for good reason: while the origin of the poisoning is at least speculation, flat out arresting someone for getting their illness treated isn't something a neutral party would do. Many Russians are PISSED at this.
...which brings us to the most recent news: despite massive protests and riots (with over 5'000 arrests), Navalny's sentenced for 2.8 years effective in prison for that initial crime (meaning: it's no longer suspended).
More protests and riots are certain to happen in the very near future.
Why am I making this thread about this? Well, because it's world news, obviously. But also: I have no idea whether or not anyone on gbatemp even knows who Navalny is in the first place (there's plenty of discussion on US politics and a bit on the UK, but other than that it's pretty silent).
So...what do you think of this? Did you knew about any of this? Do you care whether or not Russia's a democracy in more than 'just' the name?
(main source: link)
Lemme see if I can recap it chronologically...
We all know Vladimir Putin is Russia's president, right? While in theory the country's a democracy, Russia is in effect really a dictatorship. Ever since Yeltsin stepped down in early 2000, Putin has either been president or prime minister (with Dmitry Medvedev filling the other role...and it's a public secret he's really just Putin's puppet).
Has there been political opposition? Yes. Sort of. But thus far, nothing really serious. I'll admit it wasn't much my cup of tea (what can I say? I don't even speak the language). But tensions are really rising.
Enter Alexai Navalny. A major leader of protests against Putin for quite some years. As a result, he was trialed for alledgedly stealing 500'000$, which he - of course - denied. His detainment hasn't stopped protests and riots. Perhaps that was what caused authorities to change his sentence to a suspended one? I don't really know. But some time later he was poisoned. Well...Russian doctors didn't find anything, so he was flewn over to Germany where they (alledgedly) found out he was poisoned with nerve gas. On Putin's orders, according to Navalny (note: Putin's government has denied any involvement).
When he got back - this is a couple weeks ago - he was promptly arrested. Reason according to the Kremlin: flying to Germany counts as a violation of parole.
Result: riots. Massive riots. And for good reason: while the origin of the poisoning is at least speculation, flat out arresting someone for getting their illness treated isn't something a neutral party would do. Many Russians are PISSED at this.
...which brings us to the most recent news: despite massive protests and riots (with over 5'000 arrests), Navalny's sentenced for 2.8 years effective in prison for that initial crime (meaning: it's no longer suspended).
More protests and riots are certain to happen in the very near future.
Why am I making this thread about this? Well, because it's world news, obviously. But also: I have no idea whether or not anyone on gbatemp even knows who Navalny is in the first place (there's plenty of discussion on US politics and a bit on the UK, but other than that it's pretty silent).
So...what do you think of this? Did you knew about any of this? Do you care whether or not Russia's a democracy in more than 'just' the name?
(main source: link)