Kremlin Jailing Some Russians to Intimidate All of Them, Sadovskaya Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, June 5 – Despite the fears of many, the Kremlin has no interest in jailing the majority of Russians, Olga Sadovskaya says. Instead, it jails just enough of them to intimidate everyone in the population, a much more efficient use of its police powers because it gets people to do what it wants without the state having to bear the costs of a massive GULAG.

            The vice president of the Committee Against Torture says that one of the indications of this is the harshening of laws since the start of Putin’s war in Ukraine, with actions that had earlier been viewed as no threat to anyone now being criminalized and carrying with them the threat of lengthy prison terms (cherta.media/interview/repressii-zhestokost-i-politzeki-v-rossii/).

            At present, the number of those in prison for such political crimes has reached about 1500 and it seems clear that this number can and will grow, Sadovskaya says. But at the same time, it is worth noting that the total number of prisoners in Russia has fallen from a million to about 300,000 over the past decade, a trend that has saved the Kremlin money.

            She calls attention to what she sees as a growing tendency: “People are beginning to deny that they are political prisoners because they fear additional pressure will be applied to them already in prison.” There have been such cases already, and there is every reason to think that they will increase in number.

            This is all happening because Russia despite everything “remains a legalist state.” That is the reason the government adopts ever more new laws rather than just acts as it wants as was the case under Stalin. And that means following the laws that the state adopts is the best way to know who is likely to be charged in the future.

What is already obvious, Sadovskaya says, “is that the authorities are trying to select victims from various social categories in order to frighten everyone,” first within those categories and then in society as a whole. That strategy is working, the activist lawyer says; but it must be resisted, even though victories will be fewer and smaller than one would like.