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Hundreds of brave Russian's mourned the mysterious death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Unfortunately, the mourners all across the country were detained, according to a group that monitors political arrests.
Navalny had been Putin's opponent who, like Donald Trump, became the victim of lawfare. In Trump's case, he just keeps getting indicted for political purposes. In Navalny's case, he was thrown into prison.
On Friday, Russia's prison service announced Navalny's death at an Arctic prison colony. The claim was that the young man, who was 47, “felt unwell after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness.”
“The facility’s medical workers immediately arrived at the scene and an emergency medical team was called in. All necessary resuscitation measures have been carried out, but they did not yield positive results. Emergency medics confirmed the death of the convict,” the statement added.
According to the Russian-based human rights organization known as OVD-Info, there have been 389 detentions across 39 Russian cities, with no less than 30 detainees ordered to stay incarcerated up to 15 days.
Until Mr. Navalny’s death, many observers believed that the Kremlin would limit repression until after presidential elections in mid-March, when President Vladimir V. Putin is all but assured a fifth term. But many now fear that the arrests portend a broader crackdown. [...]
Specifically, "if you go against Putin, there might be a shootin'." However, Putin prefers poison over bullets and this was likely the reason Navalny felt "unwell" and soon thereafter died.
In Surgut, a city in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Region in Western Siberia, one of the Navalny mourners, Bakyt Karypbaev, said he was beaten during a five-hour detention after laying flowers at an impromptu memorial for Mr. Navalny. He told The New York Times in a phone interview that officers hit him on his head with their palms, put a gun to his head and forced him to lie on the floor with his arms outstretched. [...]
In Surgut, a city in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Region in Western Siberia, one of the Navalny mourners, Bakyt Karypbaev, said he was beaten during a five-hour detention after laying flowers at an impromptu memorial for Mr. Navalny. He told The New York Times in a phone interview that officers hit him on his head with their palms, put a gun to his head and forced him to lie on the floor with his arms outstretched. [...]
But Tucker Carlson interviewed Putin and later toured Moscow [obviously told where to go]. He praised the cleanliness of the subway and compared it to the rat-infested subways in New York City, for example. He even went shopping at a market his guide pointed him to and saw that a week's supply of basic food only came to about $104.00 US. He acted as if that wasn't a lot of money for a Russian to spend because, hey, it's only a little over a hundred bucks--pocket change for an American with a decent job.
But $104 for an American is different than it is for a Russian, or anyone from a poor country. Doesn't Tucker understand economics?
Based on Russia's economy, the average family spends 2/3 of their income on food. As of 2020, the average Russian family income is estimated to be around $936 per month, which is equivalent to approximately $11,230 per year. There are 4 weeks in a month, so divide $936 by 4 and you get $234 per week. Spending $104 for food alone makes life difficult for a normal Russian family. Yet Tucker sees this as a pittance for Russian families. And he was in Moscow where salaries are higher than the little jerk-vodka towns outside of Moscow.
Anyway, it looks like Putin is going to maintain power, [and I do mean power] for many years to come, unless someone "Putins" him.
Tucker Carlson needs to reassess his thinking and better understand exactly how dictatorships hide the real trash they're hiding.
