Watch: Russian cops arrest woman for holding a blank sign

And I do, anywhere there aren’t Russian police… :sunglasses:

Does rather beg the question, would they arrest someone who was walking near a protest wearing a plain white t-shirt?

1 Like

They would if it was a group of protesters gathered together and all wearing white t-shirts. Guaranteed.

probably. For the purposes of repression, it is sometimes useful to believe in a triune person.

1 Like

The many people protesting are deliberately not all walking at the same pace, wearing particular clothing etc., so they look a bit less like an actual protest and more like a large group of people all going to the same place. Apparently even a blank placard is too organized.

3 Likes

Killing the platform-for-dissent baby in the crib.

Just to be safe, the authorities also could have chosen to interpret her performance as being satire.

1 Like

With the “Two Words” protest/arrest video, the second arrest (of someone simply explaining what just happened with the first, actual protest) was more jarring than the first.

(And yet they dont bother the film crews?) Perhaps because the film crews are getting the message out that they want broadcast: if you protest, you will be summarily arrested.

3 Likes

Tell me you don’t know what “Communist” means, without saying “I don’t know what ‘Communist’ means”.

5 Likes

Yet people still wonder why Putin’s approval ratings are so high…

(I seriously messed up the original formatting deleted and redid instead of edit because I keep forgetting that the forum software shows “post deleted by author”)

2 Likes

Putin’s nostalgia is not for communism, but for the Soviet Union, and the KGB.

6 Likes

Russia never really made it as far as communism, and gave up trying long before the Soviet Union collapsed.

As has China.

6 Likes

Arrested on a technicality.
She may have to write a self-denunciation, implicate other would-be revisionists and write 85,000 “I must not’s…”

Or Tsarist Russia. No pretense of democracy necessary.

1 Like

A secretary is standing outside the Kremlin as Marshal Zhukov leaves a meeting with Stalin, and she hears him muttering under his breath, “Murderous moustache!”. She runs in to see Stalin and breathlessly reports, “I just heard Zhukov say ‘Murderous moustache’!” Stalin dismisses the secretary and sends for Zhukov, who comes back in. “Who did you have in mind with ‘Murderous moustache’?” asks Stalin. “Why, Iosef Vissarionovich, Hitler, of course!” Stalin thanks him, dismisses him, and calls the secretary back. “And who did you think he was talking about?”

Edit: I see that I quoted them (indirectly) from Russian political jokes - Wikipedia

This one fits the “empty sign” theme even better, I think:

A man was reported to have said: “Nikolay is a moron!” and was arrested by a policeman.
“No, sir, I meant not our respected Emperor, but another Nikolay!”
“Don’t try to trick me: if you say “moron”, you are obviously referring to our tsar!”

5 Likes

Yeah, you can’t say what the population’s views are on anything under that kind of authoritarian regime. (It doesn’t help that Putin kills off any politician who gains any popularity and might be a threat to him, either…)

2 Likes

Damn, imagine if she was holding up a Rorschach test.

5 Likes

This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.