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a Dagestani official
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prompted me, because I simply could no longer
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stay silent. An adviser to the minister
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of the Republic of Dagestan, Ruslan Akayev, wrote
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the following post about Dagestani
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truck drivers, his own fellow countrymen
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taking part in the strike against the
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Platon system: “National Guard, tear these scumbags apart,”
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“these truck drivers—don’t leave
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one stone standing.”
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No one would write that about corrupt officials being arrested,
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no one would write that about oligarchs,
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or about bribe-takers. No one would say that about
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investigators who extort people. You would never see a post like that
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and if someone did write something like that,
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they would immediately open an extremism case, and
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the author’s home would be searched. But when it comes to
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truck drivers, apparently it’s fine: tear them apart and
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smash their faces. But what is a
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truck driver, anyway? Some kind of very
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rich person? Does he live some kind of
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special, happy, carefree life,
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drinking cocktails by the pool? Well, I know a bit about this—
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I myself have a cousin who is a
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truck driver. And in general, everyone knows
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it’s hard work. By the age of 40, they all have
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bad backs. We see how they
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stand on the roadside in the middle of winter changing
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the huge wheels on their trucks. They often
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become targets of criminal
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attacks, and police are constantly extorting
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money from them. And let’s honestly
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ask ourselves: has anyone
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ever actually seen a wealthy
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truck driver? No—no one ever has.
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These are people who, through hard and honest work,
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earn a piece of bread for themselves and their families.
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All they want right now is for people to stop
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charging them an unfair
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additional tax and ruining them. And
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you know, I am completely on their side.
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Because when I look at a
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truck driver and then look at the homes of the Rotenberg brothers
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(Russian oligarchs close to the Kremlin), for whose benefit they now want to
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squeeze money out of truck drivers, I
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understand that this is, at the very least,
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unfair. It seems more like the guys
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living in those houses should be paying more
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in taxes, while truck drivers should be paying
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less. But in our country, everything is the other way around.
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And on top of that, there are shameless
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louts who call for people to smash
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someone’s face in. Let me remind you that at the
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Anti-Corruption Foundation, we even went to court
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over the Platon system. It was we who
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published the text of this secret
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agreement. The court upheld our
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claims, and the concession agreement
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was to be presented in court, and the
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Ministry of Transport even threatened
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to sue me for disclosing it.
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I recorded an address to truck drivers back
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in November 2015—it was one of my first
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videos. Dear
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truck drivers, drivers, representatives
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of this entire industry: stand up for your
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rights. The whole nation is behind you, and my position since
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that moment has not changed. I fully
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support the drivers’ strike and
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urge everyone to support it, because
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it is simply a crime when the
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state takes the last thing away from an
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honest working man and hands it over
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to a billionaire. Besides, this will actually
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affect everyone, not just
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truck drivers. Because when they are
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forced to raise their rates, it will affect the
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cost of all goods, and the
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money that goes into the pockets of the
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Rotenbergs, we will pay for through higher
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prices in the grocery store. So
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truck drivers, well done. Stay strong. All
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decent people in the country are with you now, while the
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current government, which supports the
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Rotenbergs, is disgusting. Crooks—come out
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and protest against them at rallies in June in all
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cities across the country. Subscribe to our
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channel—this is where the truth is told.