The latest Kremlin crackdown on opposition is 'unprecedented in post-Soviet Russian history'

[applegrove]

The latest Kremlin crackdown on opposition is 'unprecedented in post-Soviet Russian history'

by Marc Bennetts, Vocativ at Business Insider

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-latest-kremlin-crackdown-on-opposition-is-unprecedented-in-post-soviet-russian-history-2015-2

"SNIP......................



If the West hoped economy-busting sanctions over the Kremlin’s apparent military support for rebels in Ukraine would spark mass protests against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s long rule, then—so far, at least—it was sadly mistaken.

The Russian economy may be tanking and inflation may be rocketing, but discontent over the spiraling cost of living has been limited to online anger and small opposition rallies.

Putin, however, is taking no chances. In an apparent bid to dissuade Russians from expressing their dissatisfaction in public, he’s criminalized peaceful protest.

A controversial new law that came into force in July but is only now being implemented stipulates prison terms of up to five years for anyone detained more than once in a period of 180 days at unsanctioned protests. Since the start of the year, three opposition activists have been charged under the new law. The three men facing years behind bars are Mark Galperin, a Moscow lawyer; Ildar Dadin, a veteran political activist who took part in last year’s Maidan uprising in Kiev; and Vladimir Ionov, a 75-year-old activist.



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[msongs]

1. Putin = resotring the USSR including "lost" territories like Ukraine nt