Small thread for my international colleagues about today's announcement to declare Alexey Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation and his regional network of supporters an "extremist organizations". This is much more serious than it may seem from the outside 1/
In Russia, declaring somebody "extremist" opens way for wild use of extrajudicial mechanisms to outlaw somebody's activity. For instance, Rosfinmonitoring, blatantly abusing @FATFNews regulations, may block all your financial activity 2/
De facto, Putin today has moved on to completely outlaw and criminalize the legitimate and peaceful opposition activity as such, effectively restoring the Article 70 of the Soviet Russia (RSFSR) Criminal Code on "Anti-Soviet Propaganda", abolished by Gorbachev in 1989 3/
Announcement to outlaw Anti-Corruption Foundation as "extremist" came at the same moment as Russia has de-facto expelled the U.S. Ambassador, clearly as a sign that domestic+ foreign policy is seen as one by the Kremlin. They see all democractic forces in the world as enemies 4/
This should be an alarming signal to those in the West who still think that problems of the Russian opposition are just their own problems and "we don't have to bother". Yes you have - it'll all come down upon you 5/
We have sent you plenty of warnings in 2000s that Putin's autocratic consolidation of power will not just end at home, and will be exported further down the road. Then you had Georgia-2008, Ukraine-2014. Oh, my God, what a damn surprise! 6/
Now Putin is brutally smashing down the opposition, killing Navalny, and at the same time amassing troops at Ukraine's borders and interfering into Western democracies. Still don't see a connection here? Looking glass as a birthday present maybe? 7/
Yes, its that simple! Putin sees democratic order as an existential threat, feels that he has enough strength to challenge it with the support of China and other members of the Autocrat International, and is emboldened by total unpunished lawlessness that he practices at home 8/
The key word here is UNPUNISHED. If you'll continue to try to sit out and watch, and do nothing to counter Putin's bloodthirsty global anti-democratic drive, he'll come after you. Think you're protected enough? Remember Skripal and Gebrev and think again. It's time to act! End 9/
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