A great deal has already been said about the illegal and outrageous detentions of Yashin yashin, Nemtsov b_nemtsov, Limonov limonov_eduard, Tor tor85, Kosyakin, and others. I want to note just one thing: the crooks in the Presidential Administration who made the political decision to “give them 15 days” do not themselves realize the monstrous damage they are doing to the country and to that very modernization campaign these same crooks have been tasked with promoting. Here is Judge Borovkova.
(photo from here , originally from here) In full view of the entire country, she is issuing unlawful rulings based on false testimony from police officers and refusing to admit video recordings of the arrests into the case file. She herself understands this, we all understand it, the police understand it, other judges understand it, even those who dislike Nemtsov and Limonov understand it (really, who believes that “during the arrest, Nemtsov and Limonov fought with the police and loudly shouted obscene insults at Dmitry Medvedev”?). And the brilliant future inventors of the next Googles and Apples—whom Medvedev, supposedly the target of those obscene insults, is trying to lure to Skolkovo (Russia’s state-backed innovation hub)—understand it too. Do we have any doubt that a proverbial Judge Borovkova, who so easily and publicly issues unlawful rulings for political reasons, would just as easily issue rulings for economic reasons as well—that is, to put it plainly, take bribes? There is no such doubt. There are even vague suspicions that this proverbial Judge Borovkova was already caught taking a bribe, after which she began churning out these “15-day sentences” so ferociously. You can joke all you like about “prisoners of conscience for a couple of days,” but deprivation of liberty is deprivation of liberty—a very serious measure. Would the inventor of Google or Facebook in beautiful Skolkovo want a dispute with other inventors (see the story of Facebook’s creation) to be heard by a proverbial Judge Borovkova? Of course not. Does anyone believe justice can exist in a system where a proverbial Judge Borovkova can exist? Of course not. So the future inventor packs up and heads for California, making America a little richer and us a little poorer. By the way, speaking cynically, it must be said that the actions of the crooks in the Presidential Administration are not only unlawful and harmful, but also completely ineffective in terms of their own goals: Limonov, Kosyakin, Yashin, Tor, and Nemtsov have received widespread sympathy, moral support, and, it seems to me, new supporters. A certain consolidation of opposition figures of different ideological persuasions is obvious, even if temporary. Even loyalists now find it awkward to talk about modernization. Medvedev has ended up looking utterly ridiculous, precisely on the very days when he is talking about the further improvement of the judicial system. That’s how it is. And let’s send our support to everyone who was illegally detained and deprived of their freedom during these New Year holidays, and also wish good health to Vladimir Tor, who has gone on a hunger strike.