Another pro-SMO patriot is arrested for terrorism
What could this mean?
In an op-ed published in August, Left Front leader Sergei Udaltsov warned that the Russian government had turned its back on patriotic forces that “support the residents of Donbass and their heroic struggle for the right to self-determination”:
[I]nstead of relying on the creative energy of millions of supporters of socialism and the patriotic revival of Russia—which the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the Left Front and other members of the left-patriotic coalition regularly called on the authorities to do after the start of the special operation—officials are right now launching a new campaign of repression before our eyes. […]
Representatives of the left and patriotic forces urgently need to strengthen mutual coordination and form a broad coalition before everyone is imprisoned one by one.
The response to the unfolding repression should be our unity and the nomination of a single presidential candidate for 2024 from all progressive public and political organizations. Otherwise, it may be too late...
With the presidential election two months away, Udaltsov was arrested on January 11 and charged with “publicly justifying terrorism on the Internet”. His was interrogated for six hours before being carted off to a pre-trial detention facility.
What kind of heinous terrorist plot did Russia’s brave spooks foil this time?
Udaltsov is accused of posting a Telegram message in support of five Marxists (the “Ufa Five”) who conspired to “seize power” in Russia. (The group published a video on social media encouraging Russians to resist the “capitalist occupation” of their country.)
The Ufa Five are still waiting for their trial to start (they’ve been in pre-trial detention since March 2022), which means Udaltsov was arrested for justifying terrorism because … he expressed support for five dudes who haven’t been convicted of anything (yet)? That is the official reason for his arrest, yes.
Even though he was caught red-handed trying to participate in his country’s political process—which is the highest form of terrorism—Udaltsov has refused to admit guilt. He faces up to 7 years in prison.
Left Front issued a statement on January 14 under the headline “Criticism of the authorities is not terrorism”:
The Left Front declares that Sergei Udaltsov, like the Left Front as a whole, has never justified and does not justify terrorism … Therefore, LF supporters regard this persecution solely as POLITICAL, the purpose of which is to strangle any opposition activity.
Sergei supports the just struggle of the people of Donbass, is an experienced politician, a patriot of Russia, and a consistent critic of the Russian authorities from socialist and patriotic positions. […]
The Left Front states that instead of solving real problems, the Russian authorities have intensified the fight against the left-wing patriotic opposition. Instead of bringing to justice those oligarchs about whom there is information about their financing of the armed forces of Ukraine, criminal cases are initiated against communists and patriots: Boris Kagarlitsky, recognized as a foreign agent and extremist, the Ufa Five, Igor Strelkov, Konstantin Pavlov and others.
Not much else is known about the anti-terrorist operation against Udaltsov because “the documents justifying [his] arrest constitute a secret protected by law”.
Coincidentally, the investigation into monarchist turbo patriot Igor Strelkov—who was arrested in July on charges of “inciting extremism”—is also top secret.
Despite being on opposite ends of the political spectrum, these two suspected terrorists (Udaltsov and Strelkov) have a lot in common:
They both support the Special Military Operation
They both think the SMO is being mismanaged/sabotaged
They both begged the Kremlin to cleanse Russia of the neoliberal parasites that have been sucking the country dry for the last 30-odd years, and offered to help mobilize patriotic forces across the political spectrum that were ready to work with the government.
They both gave up on trying to work with the Kremlin and started organizing for the upcoming presidential election…
… and then they were both arrested.
I’m struggling to express how thoroughly bewildered I am. Why do we tolerate it? And I do mean we, because it’s the same everywhere, really.
The United States, Russia, China, the EU—it’s the exact same system of space lizard rule-by-terror. In Ukraine they will actually murder you if you make fun of Zelensky on Twitter. C’mon, now.
What’s the point of it all? Sometimes I think that our governments are laughing at us as we yell at each other on the internet and kill each other in retarded wars—just laughing and laughing and laughing. But these are terrorist-thoughts and I sincerely apologize for them. Please don’t tell them I said those things.
Left-wing and right-wing patriotism is a direct threat to oligarchs who practice gangsterism. This is the case in Russia and in the US.
What I don't get is that the east fanboys love to ignore things like this.
If they're really russiaphiles, they would want freedom and justice for their own citizens.
And then I remember, they remind me of those people in the USSR that thought America was great and free.
I think the illusion is popping now. We were in this 1984 like isolation until people started talking to each other.