This phrase — “Investigators allowed Maltsev to say goodbye to his child” — captures the full vileness of Putin’s regime.
We drag you illegally into a jail cell, but you’re supposed to thank us for letting you hug your crying daughter.
Why should Maltsev have to say goodbye to his child at all? Why are they sawing through his door?
Did he kill someone? Did he steal billions from the state budget? Did he bribe Medvedev with a house worth five billion rubles?
Just recently, in court during the Nemtsov murder case, the FSB said it had been unable to detain the alleged organizer of the killing, Ruslan Geremeyev, or even search his home because “the door was not opened”.
So maybe that was where they should have stormed in with all these investigators and a whole show of force, Russian-style “masked raids”?
But no. In our country, murderers and thieves are protected, while a man who tells the truth is dragged into a cell.
Reports say Maltsev has been hit with the absurd charge of assaulting a police officer in Moscow. But even within the framework of this completely fabricated case, was it really necessary to saw through the door of his apartment in Saratov while his family and children were inside?
It is clear that first and foremost they want to shut down Artpodgotovka, which has become an influential media outlet and an organizing force.
It is clear that this is an act of intimidation — after all, it is impossible to arrest the hundreds of thousands who came out for the March 26 protest. It is impossible to arrest thousands, and even hundreds as well.
So instead they resort to isolated arrests like this — but ones that are demonstratively lawless.
So it is also clear to us what must be done: keep up the pressure on the cowardly, vile crooks who organize arrests like these. Campaign against them, take part in street protests — both on June 12 and on every other occasion. Spread information online. Always show solidarity with political prisoners.
Sending support to Vyacheslav Maltsev, Artpodgotovka, and everyone detained today.