AMU Europe Homeland Security Intelligence Opinion

Russian Dictator Takes a Dive

Brett Daniel Shehadey
Special Contributor for In Homeland Security

Third time head of state President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is doing more than ever before. He rides and fishes, shirtless; hunts, guides endangered Siberian cranes to a preserve; does judo, plays hockey and on and on. His most recent cult-of-personality adventure took a sea dive in a Mir-1 mini-submersible to observe a shipwreck. But in truth, President Putin has gone too far and done too many things and his reign is taking a dive both internationally and within Russia. He has not just been engaging in recreational activities or lambasting foreigners and Americans but censoring and persecuting his own countrymen.

Either you are with me or against Russia—that is Putin’s train of logic. Megalomania or Russian savior? The man Putin, might be both: a pure nationalist whose credence in authoritarianism and persecution of dissidents is seen merely as a means to an end and what he believes will be a more stable Russia. If there is no limit to what he would do to stay in power then he is not only a dictator but a ruthless one at that.

The short list of President Putin’s political victims:

Vladimir Gusinsky

Boris Berezovsky

Sergei Udaltsov

Gary Kasporov

Alexander Litvinenko

Mikhail Khodorkovsky

Sergei Magnitsky

Ksenia Sobchak

Anna Politkovskaya

Pussy Riot

Alexei Navalny

Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov

Stanislav Markelov

Anastasia Baburova

Yury Chervochkin…

While not everyone Putin punishes is entirely innocent, one thing is certain- whoever he does punish, it is entirely political. Anyone that stands in Putin’s way must be beaten, shamed, removed, placed under house arrest, gone into hiding, thrown in a Russian prison that is overcrowded by numbers potentially 10 times capacity and or assassinated. This is the state of the Russian Federation right now.

Putin has been in the upper-echelons of power for 13 years. Putin first became Russia in 2000 and now Russia is becoming Putin.

Putin and his United Russia Party has been described by Opposition Mayoral Candidate Alexei Navalny as “a party of thieves and swindlers.” Massive political corruption, stealing from the private sector, dismantling or nationalizing companies and taking a cut, is the norm, even at the highest levels.

Additionally, Putin bypassed the two term limit of the Russian presidency by becoming Prime Minister after the second term; a third term took place in the face of large-scale protests all over Russia. While Prime Minister, ex-President Dmitry Medvedev signed the amendment that extending the presidential term limit from four years to six.

Clearly Putin feels that not only that he is Russia but no one else can be Russia or share in his power-build. All the classic signs of a tyrannical malign dictatorship are there: persecuting any opposition, manipulating the laws to ones will, appeal to the masses using popular themes; trumping up unverifiable conspiracies; redirecting the public anger to foreigners; making a public enemy out of the West through bold defiance beyond nationalist concerns and closer friends with the West’s enemies.

US ambassador to Moscow, Michael McFaul: “We are deeply disappointed in the conviction of Navalny and the apparent political motivations in this trial.”

Opposition politician Boris Nemtsov said of Navalny’s arrest: “With today’s ruling, Putin has told the whole world he is a dictator who sends his political opponents to prison.”

In the face of all this, Russian prosecutors released Navalny within 24 hours of his detention. He is still charged and will likely be found guilty, preventing him from office. The release is obviously a damage control maneuver on the part of Putin and his United Russian Party to divert negative attention and dictatorial-like image. Again, it does not mean that Navalny is “free” but just no longer imprisoned.

Perhaps Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who has been politically singled out and imprisoned for years had said it best of the Russian system: “It is the Singapore model, it is a term that people understand in Russia these days. It means that theoretically you have a free press, but in practice there is self-censorship. Theoretically you have courts; in practice the courts adopt decisions dictated from above. Theoretically there are civil rights enshrined in the constitution; in practice you are not able to exercise some of these rights.”

In other words, Russia is country of law and rights on paper but not a society and culture that operates under law or has yet accepted civil rights like free press and free speech. Remember that 45 to 50 percent of Russians have a favorable opinion of the dictator Joseph Stalin today.

A strong majority of people of Russia still support President Putin at over 60 percent. In 2008 Russians supported Putin at nearly 85 percent. This continued to fall. What is in-store for Putin and his Party is more opposition both internationally and domestically.

Aside from the growing opposition, other developments to eye blend into the picture: neo-Stalinism nostalgia and powerful nationalism in all forms.

Comments are closed.