From NPR:

A Moscow museum director and a prominent curator seeking to protest Russia’s renewed censorship could face up to five years in prison in a criminal case that international human rights groups say targets freedom of expression in Russia. They are charged with inciting hatred and offending human dignity.

In the Soviet Union, pro-religious artists were persecuted. Now, artists who question the resurgent power of the Russian Orthodox Church and its close relationship with the Kremlin are under pressure.

The case coincides with another attempt to limit freedom of expression. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev recently created a commission for “counteracting attempts to falsify history to the detriment of Russia’s interests.” It is made up of Kremlin-friendly conservatives.

The first time I saw Vladimir Putin was New Year’s Eve, Y2K, watching TV at a house in Bath, England, wondering if the world was going to short-circuit.

The BBC announced Yeltsin had resigned and Putin was now in charge. The footage: Putin in Chechnya, grinning like a dog, handing out hunting knives to Russian soldiers putting down the Chechen rebellion—hunting knives. I remember thinking: That man is a creep who will do bad things for his country. And then I returned to wondering whether the world would short circuit.

Brend an Kiley has worked as a child actor in New Orleans, as a member of the junior press corps at the 1988 Republican National Convention, and, for one happy April, as a bootlegger’s assistant in Nicaragua....

11 replies on “Russia: Still Backsliding”

  2. You might want to clarify that you were watching Putin on TV, because at first glance it sounds like you and Putin were chillin’ out together on New Year’s Eve.

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