1/Facing 15 ADDITIONAL years in prison on trumped up charges, @navalny is as determined as ever:
"I’m telling you now, employees of the Anti-Corruption Fight Fund, continue to publish facts. Find where Putin, his circle, relatives, put the stolen money.. tvrain.ru/teleshow/video…
2/...investigate all these United Russia ministers, publish, urge everyone else to distribute...I am fighting, yes, for to change the government in the country. I do not want these people to sit in the Kremlin, they have been sitting there for decades...
3/... I believe that they are thieves, I ask you to make donations to us so that we can investigate the activities of these thieves. And at each new court session, I will even tell with pleasure, let's call it a campaign of court donations...
4/...I want to participate in elections. I want other candidates to participate in the elections. I want there to be a party to vote for. And I demand that you allow other people and yourself to vote. But you think you can keep me out. And I say that it is illegal and wrong.
5/...after some FSB men followed me for two years, poisoned me with chemical weapons and I lay in a coma for twenty days... it’s simply stupid for me to be afraid of your trial. I have not been afraid of him before, but now I definitely will not be afraid.
6/...This is not my first trial, I am not a naive person, I understand that the verdict will be guilty, it will be a fairly long term. Since I insulted your dark lord Putin so much that I didn’t just survive, but returned..
7/...He will endlessly increase my terms. I think that all the same, my activity, the activity of my colleagues is more important than just the specific fate of a person. I believe that the worst real crime I can commit is to be afraid of you all, and you and those behind you."
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Some thoughts on what's likely to come next in Russia after Navalny is thankfully getting SOME treatment:
Yes, he has been finally given access to (likely ill-equipped) civilian doctors, leading to the end of his hunger strike.
BUT, here are the realities that lie ahead.. (1/10)
Expect suppression of Navalny's colleagues and supporters at its highest level yet. In labeling them "extremists", officials have legal authority to treat them as terrorists. Early previews include colleagues who have been beaten, jailed for NO reason, and threatened. (2/10)
Expect further suppression of independent media (who have done incredible investigative work). Just today, authorities designated @meduzaproject as a "foreign agent", which makes it that much harder for their work to continue. (3/10)
I’ve come across several explanations for Biden not mentioning @navalny (in either the read out of his call to Putin, or Thursday’s statement). They suggest it was done to avoid further enraging Putin and thus increasing the risk to Navalny’s life...(1/6)
Or perhaps a behind the scenes deal is being negotiated for a prisoner exchange. Here’s why I think both arguments are wrong:
1) Putin can’t be placated once he views someone as an existential threat/enemy (which is how he views Navalny). (2/6)
2) Just yesterday, The Kremlin deemed Navalny and his team “extremists”, putting all of their supporters in legal jeopardy.
3) Navalny will never leave Russia in a prisoner exchange. He voluntarily returned to Russia after being poisoned, knowing he would likely be jailed. (3/6)
@navalny's team responds to Russian prosecutors seeking to declare them extremists:
"The darkest time is coming for free-thinking people, for civil society in Russia. Kremlin has just demanded that anyone who disagrees with it be recognized as extremists... (1/4)
I disagree with palaces and rising prices, raising the retirement age and corruption. Those who are ready to protest against this will now be declared extremists. It is clear that the Kremlin's new attack is linked to the upcoming rally and the elections in September. (2/4)
So it is clear what the answer should be: hold a rally (perhaps this is generally the last rally in the next few years), and win elections (perhaps this is generally the last elections for many years to come). (3/4)
While today's IC report on Russia's effort to influence the 2020 election in Trump's favor is not surprising, a few things worth noting:
- Putin continues to rely on US social media companies to undermine US confidence in elections and "increase sociopolitical divisions"...(1/5)
At the same time, the Kremlin is threatening to censor or even ban the same social media companies from inside Russia out of fear of @navalny and other Kremlin opponents gaining support from younger Russians disenfranchised with Putin (ahead of Sept. Duma elections). (2/5)
- The report calculates that Moscow will continue its election interference campaign because "the Kremlin has long deemed that a weakened US would be less likely to pursue assertive foreign and security policies abroad and more open to geopolitical bargains with Russia"...(3/5)
Another powerful speech from @navalny today as he returns to court in his libel suit involving a 95 year old veteran.
He brilliantly lays out the the hypocrisy and corruption surrounding the case and connects it directly to Putin’s government. (1/6) zona.media/online/2021/02…
Navalny: the government has provided the veteran with less than $150 in aid over 4 years. The cost of the investigation amounts to more than the veteran has received for all his life.
Contrast that with the opulence of Putin’s palace and his $675 toilet brushes (each) (2/6)
“Where does this money come from? It’s stolen from veterans like this one. Someone didn’t get a wheelchair, someone didn’t get their medicine, so that Putin’s could get a palace. So that his mother in law could get an apartment. So Medvedev could have 4 palaces... (3/6)
A visibly angry and defiant @navalny addresses the court (from prison):
I expected lawlessness, but not to this degree. To be detained after an impromptu hearing for one month?How is this possible?
"I expected Putin to come out and say, haha. Welcome back. It was a joke" (1/5)
“No one understands why I'm here. I'm not even under arrest. I'm detained for a month. How is that even possible? Under criminal code, there are certain crimes where people can be held for 30 days. I don't meet any of them.” (2/5)
“I have an explanation for why this is being done in such an obviously lawless manner. it is intentional. To scare me and the country. This isn't even coming from the courts. But directly from the people who have robbed the country for 20 years...”(3/5)