In the morning, the radio comes on in the cell. Over the radio, they report that, “after lengthy consultations,” the Kremlin has “made a final decision not to allow Navalny to run in the election.”
At that point, even my cellmate laughs: who are they to decide for everyone? And if they “decided,” then all that talk about it being “prohibited by law” is obviously a lie—because they could just as well have “decided” otherwise.
This is exactly where the fundamental divide with the Kremlin and Putin lies. Not even corruption, but this.
If you don’t want some men in power deciding for you after their long or short consultations in some opaque inner circle, then sign up: