Crackdown in Russia
Putin's Autocracy
Belisarius, CI General and World Correspondent
Last Updated: 9/26/07 Section: Opinion
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On Sunday, April 14, Moscow witnessed something that is not unfamiliar in its long history but which is surprising nonetheless. Police and security forces attacked, arrested, beat, and illegally detained a group of protesters. The protester's leader, the famous chess-master Garry Kasparov, was taken illegally out of a restaurant and placed in a holding cell. The crackdown received some press attention, but not as much as it should have.
Russia is one of the world's eight nuclear powers, and its economy is one of the world's largest, on par with the economies of the United Kingdom and France. It produces a massive 9.4 million barrels of oil a day, almost as much as Saudi Arabia, and it dominates the energy markets of Europe. Much of the western world is dependent on its energy production, and its diplomatic might is essential in reaching deals over Iran, North Korea, and other crisis-points. News that Russia's primary pro-liberalization movement was violently suppressed should be carefully noted by the U.S. and Europe.
Russia has technically been a democracy for just over fifteen years. Rights guaranteed by the Russian constitution include free assembly, speech, and thought. It is forbidden, however, to incite "social, racial, national, or religious hatred." So while the police were beating and rounding up pro-democracy protesters, a small band of ultra-nationalists decided to mock the law and the police by holding up posters depicting Jews killing Russian babies. The police did nothing to these ultranationalists. The Russian government was intentionally targeting and molesting pro-democracy protestors in an attempt to suppress opposition.
President Vladimir Putin has systematically been centralizing power since he came to his office on New Year's Eve, 1999. After the failures of the Yeltsin era, particularly the economic collapse of the 1990s, Putin realized that a stronger central authority would be essential for pressing the kind of reforms that he and the public wanted. He knew that meeting the Russian people's demands would mean staying in power.
Russia is one of the world's eight nuclear powers, and its economy is one of the world's largest, on par with the economies of the United Kingdom and France. It produces a massive 9.4 million barrels of oil a day, almost as much as Saudi Arabia, and it dominates the energy markets of Europe. Much of the western world is dependent on its energy production, and its diplomatic might is essential in reaching deals over Iran, North Korea, and other crisis-points. News that Russia's primary pro-liberalization movement was violently suppressed should be carefully noted by the U.S. and Europe.
Russia has technically been a democracy for just over fifteen years. Rights guaranteed by the Russian constitution include free assembly, speech, and thought. It is forbidden, however, to incite "social, racial, national, or religious hatred." So while the police were beating and rounding up pro-democracy protesters, a small band of ultra-nationalists decided to mock the law and the police by holding up posters depicting Jews killing Russian babies. The police did nothing to these ultranationalists. The Russian government was intentionally targeting and molesting pro-democracy protestors in an attempt to suppress opposition.
President Vladimir Putin has systematically been centralizing power since he came to his office on New Year's Eve, 1999. After the failures of the Yeltsin era, particularly the economic collapse of the 1990s, Putin realized that a stronger central authority would be essential for pressing the kind of reforms that he and the public wanted. He knew that meeting the Russian people's demands would mean staying in power.
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