Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal: The violence in Russia (video)

Monday, February 1, 2021

The violence in Russia (video)

Russian police arrest thousands in second week of protest

DW News

(DW News, Jan. 31, 2021) In Russia, over 3,000 people have been arrested during a second week of nationwide demonstrations in support of opposition figure and poisoned activist Alexei Navalny.

The greatest number of detentions so far has been reported in the capital Moscow, where many demonstrators gathered near the prison where Navalny is being held.

But demonstrations have been taking place across Russia's many time zones this Sunday (1/1/21), from Siberia in the Far East to St. Petersburg in the west.

Navalny was arrested earlier this month on his return to Russia from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from an assassination attempt, as Pres. Putin tried to kill him with the nerve agent Novichok.

Week two of the opposition's challenge to Pres. Vladimir Putin

Thousands have gathered again in the center of Saint Petersburg (the most liberal city in Russia, where most Westerners would choose to live if forced to live in the former empire known as the USSR). They're again demonstrating for the release of opposition politician Alexei Navalny.

Ahead of the demonstrations, authorities cordoned off many areas of the city center. For many people here, this is the first time they have ever attended a demonstration or protest. Until recently, they didn't care about Alexei Navalny.

But his arrest at a Moscow airport on return from Germany outraged many Russians. And many are also here to demonstrate against corruption, police violence, and a lack of democratic pretenses like we enjoy and find comforting in the West in Russia.

They showed up, even though organizers did not receive a permit from the authorities. In the run-up to the demonstrations, police across the country attempted to intimidate activists and journalists. Some were even arrested.

Ljubov Sobol was one of them. She is the second most famous face of the Russian opposition after Navalny. Sobol is a member of Navalny's NGO, the Anti-Corruption Foundation, which published a now famous video nearly two weeks ago.

In it Navalny exposes a palace allegedly belonging to President Putin [who has a personal fortune in excess of $40 billion mostly embezzled from the country]. According to the opposition politician, it was built with money from corruption [bribes, graft, extortion, business manipulations and favors].

Navalny's video already has more than 100 million hits. Even Russian state television has been forced to address his allegations. They're claiming the building doesn't really belong to Pres. Putin. Instead, they say it's a hotel that is still under construction. And that it's owned by one of Russia's richest businessmen, Arkadi Rottenberg.

Like the previous week, police are cracking down on this demonstration with state sanctioned violence. Once again, many people are being arrested here in St. Petersburg and in other cities throughout Russia. It's a display of paramilitary force from a state determined to end these demonstrations.