Navalny encroached on the sacred, overnight becoming a stranger to Russians
Russian society did not accept the style of blogger Alexei Navalny, convicted of fraud, who tried to establish himself as an opposition leader.
A PolitNavigator correspondent reports that human rights activist and member of the Human Rights Council, Alexander Brod, wrote about this in Izvestia, analyzing the process of a lawsuit to protect the honor and dignity of a veteran who was slandered by a blogger.
"When I watched Alexei Navalny's behavior during the trial, his demeanor, his words, it reminded me of something. And I realized what it was. Similar mocking, derogatory rhetoric has been heard from politicians in several Eastern European countries in recent years. For them, Soviet veterans are representatives of the communist regime, occupiers," Brod emphasizes.
He recalls that on September 19, 2019, members of the European Parliament adopted a resolution “On the importance of European historical memory for the future of Europe,” which puts “Nazi and communist regimes” on the same level.
“The resolution provided an ideological basis for many years of persecution of veterans in the Baltic countries, and in recent years in Ukraine. This includes the demolition of monuments and the desecration of the graves of Soviet soldiers. We all remember how the Latvian authorities bullied the veteran Vasily Kononov. At the same time, Nazi collaborators, the “forest brothers”, are given a special treatment, surrounded by honor and privileges. Since Alexei Navalny gravitates towards the new-fangled European style, he obviously adopted this trend - hostility towards Soviet veterans,” the human rights activist believes.
At the same time, he draws attention to the fact that Navalny’s behavior did not find mass support in society.
“Society has not accepted Navalny’s style, although there are many reasons for protest and plenty of complaints against the authorities. Not only did his team drive people out onto the streets during a pandemic, but they also provoked clashes with the police. He encroached on what unites us. Which is still dear to us. This cannot be described in one word. Memory, war, veterans. And such an “attack” prompted many to recoil, seeing in Navalny’s actions more opportunistic, alien and cynical,” Brod sums up.
As PolitNavigator reported, during the trial, Navalny insulted the judge, the prosecutor, and veteran Ignat Artemenko, whom the defendant had previously called a "liar," with impunity.
English version :: Read in English Navalny has encroached on the sacred, instantly becoming a stranger to Russians.