Pavel Sieviaryniec: Anyone still believes in Russian democracy?

The conviction of Navalny is a signal to everyone in Belarus, who hopes for Russia as a democracy exporter.

A political prisoner Pavel Sieviaryniec stated that when commenting for the charter97.org on the sentence of a Russian oppositionist Alexey Navalny.

“There are no doubts that it is a politically motivated verdict. If in the case of Khodorkovski one could argue, because there was a big business there and wild privatization, then in the case of Navalny the authorities simply used his desire to find out the details of economic issues, added the testimonies of frightened people to that and that is all. The machine works smoothly here”, - the politician is convinced.

He emphasized that this way Putin certainly follows the steps of Lukashenka.

“It is quite possible that such methods for ruling Russia were tested on Lukashenka and Belarus. When Moscow finances the dictatorial regime, not only it receives geopolitical benefits, but also a certain testing area for practicing its own behavior in dealing with dissent, in holding the power. I think, this is the case, when we can say that it was practiced on Belarus. They looked at the reaction and are now doing the same on Russia’s scale. Putin is confidently going towards a dictatorship. And it is being done more subtly, since for example Navalny was demonstratively allowed to participate in the elections, and then he is put in prison and the registration will be annulled. This is how the heirs of KGB of the USSR understand advanced acrobatics in politics”, - the political prisoner said.

He noted that Navalny fiercely criticized the corrupt nature of the Russian authorities and hit in the very heart of the system, which lies to and steals from the residents of Russia.

“That is why they needed to make a corruptionist out of Navalny. The authorities arranged with process, which was poorly disguised. And they imprisoned him in summer, when the protest activity is the lowest and the middle-class is on vacations. Everything was counted there. In this sense the preparation and practicing of such scenarios somewhere in Belarus or other autocracies is of fundamental importance for Russia. It simply uses these countries as a testing field”, - the political prisoner is convinced.

Pavel Sieviaryniec believes that the verdict is a signal to everyone in the post-Soviet space.

“This is like a shield, put by the occupants on the executed – this will happen to everyone, who challenges the empire and the dictator. This is a primitive old way of intimidating people. It is not decapitation in the XXI century, but five years in a penal colony and tortures there. However everything looks very familiar. This is also a signal to those in Belarus, who hope for Russia as democracy exporter. The regime there is the same, it is just that it acts more subtly. Many FSB analysts work on schemes and scenarios there”, - Pavel Sieviaryniec summed up.

We would remind that yesterday a famous Russian oppositionist Alexey Navalny was sentenced to five years in prison accused of embezzlement from the Kirovles state timber company. Dozens thousands people came out to the streets of Russian cities to protest against the court’s decision. Hundreds were detained.