EDITORIAL: Nemtsov Arrested, Again!

Boris Nemtsov, draped in his country's flag, finds out what his "prime minister" thinks about real patriotism -- Courtesy Reuters

EDITORIAL

Nemtsov Arrested, Again!

Yuri Shevchuk, unplugged, a command performance for Vladimir Putin on Pushkin Square in Moscow -- Courtesy AP

Last time, just weeks ago, former First Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov was arrested for signing an autograph.  This time, his crime was far more serious:  Waving a Russian flag.  World-renown human rights activist Lev Ponomaryov was also arrested.

Nemtsov was arrested by Vladimir Putin’s jack-booted goons once again last week, before he could even set foot at the site of a demonstration in support of the Russian flag.  Yuri Schevhuk, the Russian Bruce Springsteen, was forced to sing at the demonstration without amplification after Putin’s goons blocked his speakers from reaching him.

EDITORIAL: Putin’s Russia is Brutal, Cruel and Inhumane

Yuri Shevchuk lays down the law to Vladimir Putin

EDITORIAL

Putin’s Russia is Brutal, Cruel and Inhumane

The system that has been built in our country is brutal, cruel, and inhumane. People are suffering, not only in prisons and camps, but in orphanages and hospitals as well. So many bastards are feeding themselves on power. With epaulettes on their shoulders and with flashing lights in their heads, they are robbing us, running us over on the road, and shooting us in stores. And nobody is being held accountable.

You may think those words were uttered by some demonic foreign “Russophobe” who just doesn’t know how great things are on the ground in Vladimir Putin’s Russia, but if you think that you are very, very much mistaken.

Russian rocker Yuri Shevchuk of the seminal band DDT uttered those words during a concert last weekend in Moscow. A video of the remarks has gone viral in Russia (already collecting nearly over 175,000 views and over 500 comments). In a subsequent interview, Shevchuk warned ominously: “I know there are thousands of wonderful musicians who sing songs about civil themes, who do not agree with what is happening in this country. There are a lot of wonderful young people who are playing in cellars. And all this is gaining some critical mass.”

Radio Free Europe provides the evidence that Shevchuk is right: