They Killed My Lawyer: A story of Putin’s Russia
If you care about issues like the rule of law or human rights, you should read this article. I think it’s powerfully written; although it’s somewhat lengthy I didn’t get bored and start skimming halfway through, as I usually do with long articles.
It is essentially about the corruption that remains in Russian government (and pretty much everywhere in Russia). It begins as a simple story of some people trying to scam over $200 million out of a company. It ends with the imprisonment and death of the one corporate lawyer who fought this scamming and didn’t flee Russia. He did not confess to anything, he was never tried and certainly never convicted. However, while he was initially imprisoned in a detention centre for people on remand, he was moved about and about, bouncing between some of Russia’s worst prisons, or so the article states. He developed medical problems which kept him in agony, and the authorities consistently denied him medical treatment. For months. Until he died.
I’m sure people such as my Russian friend would argue that while harsh, this is just how things are done in Russia, and is the best system of government for the Russian people. And furthermore, that Australians are just too soft-hearted and cowardly to see how this treatment of people is generally a good thing. But whatever. I don’t think it is.
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