A highly surprising post by Vladimir Varfolomeyev varfolomeev66. Should one go to the rally in defense of Arakcheyev and Khudyakov? *Not long ago, I wouldn’t even have discussed this question—there are several officers accused and convicted of murders in Chechnya, and I feel no sympathy for them, nor any desire to stand up for them. All the more so because they already had plenty of defenders among patriotically minded fellow citizens. But then people I know from the Narod movement came out in defense of Arakcheyev and Khudyakov, and today members of the OGF (United Civil Front) did as well. That made me pause and reread the materials on the case available online and in the press. Not being a lawyer, I can’t reliably judge how far the lawyers’ objections undermine the final verdict. It seems to me: not radically. *The conclusion Vladimir draws: *I have no grounds to believe that Arakcheyev and Khudyakov were an exception to this “rule of war” (that there can be no such thing as a good Chechen). Therefore I do not consider it possible to go to a rally in their support. *In other words: I am not interested in the presumption of innocence; my personal experience tells me that tens of thousands of federal servicemen are more likely dirty murderers than not. Therefore I do not consider it possible to go to a rally in their support. In general, in my view, V.V. makes two key mistakes in his reasoning: *there are several officers accused and convicted of murders in Chechnya. *Helloooooo, Vladimir and his followers! Let me remind you that there are several officers accused of murder but acquitted by the court. Acquitted twice, in fact. And both times by jury trials. And both times no one had any complaints about the composition of the jury—not even the representatives of the victims. The first acquittal was overturned after a meeting between Putin and Alu Alkhanov (then president of Chechnya), the second after a meeting between Putin and Ramzan Kadyrov. Jury trials are the only bright spot in our grotesque judicial system. The only chance for justice not delivered “by phone call” (i.e. by orders from above). And yet the liberal public is now ready to throw jury trials under the bus too, simply because the verdict seems wrong to them. A rally in defense of Arakcheyev and Khudyakov is not a rally in defense of Russians’ right to kill all non-Russians. It is a rally in defense of justice. We are not revisiting the question of proof of guilt—the court already did that. And the court returned an acquittal. We are opposing the abuse of Russian justice for the sake of bolstering the authority of Caucasian local strongmen. That same varfolomeev66, in an earlier post, says quite rightly and correctly: *Ukraine’s Interior Ministry believes that National Bolshevik Mikhail Gangan, who requested political asylum, cannot be extradited to Russia. Well done. I hope they stick to that position going forward. *So in one case: - to hell with the corrupt prosecutor’s office and the Russian court. Freedom for Gangan! We know he’s a good guy! And in the other: **- apparently the military panel of the North Caucasus court made the right decision. Arakcheyev and Khudyakov are not worthy of our defense! We know they’re bad! **That is what double standards are called. One well-known young liberal politician put it very accurately on this point. His position on the A. and Kh. case largely matches mine. But he prefers not to voice it publicly (it would be misunderstood in the “human rights camp”), so I won’t name him. He said: **Well yes, of course, it’s all obvious. A political hit job. They should be defended, since a jury acquitted them twice. The problem is that they are accused of killing Chechens. If it were anyone else, sure, everyone would rush to defend them. But Chechens are untouchable. That is an axiom of our liberal politics: Russians are bad, Chechens are good. And there’s nothing to be done about it. It’s like spitting into the wind. **So I call on those to whom such rules do not apply, those who believe that justice and fairness are for everyone, not just for those who are supposedly “entitled” to them, to come to the rally tomorrow. January 10, Thursday, at 4:00 p.m., directly outside the Ministry of Defense (Arbatskaya metro exit)