r/worldnews • u/DownWithAssad • 5d ago

Russia sentences 15-year-old schoolboy to 5 years for criticizing Putin regime and war against Ukraine Russia/Ukraine

https://khpg.org/en/1608813775
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u/CarnegieFormula 5d ago

This is to prevent others from following suit by making an example

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u/I-RonButterfly 5d ago

...Because he is weak.

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u/canonlynn 5d ago

Exactly, everyone knows that kids will say stupid shit that they will have to learn not say, when a dictator goes for the kids it must send a cruel message even for the true supporters.

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u/ArenjiTheLootGod 5d ago

Except that the kid wasn't saying stupid shit, he was speaking the truth and that's what has got the Russian government scared. Even if cruelty was the point, handling it this way is spectacularly dumb because now far more people are going to hear the kid's message than if they had just left him alone. I mean, we're hearing about it and it's rare to hear anything coming out of Russia these days that isn't state propaganda or hourly threats of dropping nukes.

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u/Livid_Camel_7415 5d ago

handling it this way is spectacularly dumb because now far more people are going to hear the kid's message than if they had just left him alone.

This is a very Western take. You keep hoping for a trigger, this is not how Russia works. If anything, this signals for the rest of the people that it's time to be extra quiet, because they are putting children in prison now.

You approach this as someone who takes responsibility for society, because you live in a democracy and you feel that you have a dog in the race.

Russians have no such experience, for them, government is like the weather. You just adapt. Whatever happens, happens anyway.

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u/Fogmoose 5d ago

What a sad way to live life. And what many in the US on the right would probably like to see their country become.

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u/Luke90210 4d ago

If that reality took place in the US, most of these rubes would be slaughtered. Once the right seizes control, why would they let others remained armed? In most of these types of revolutions, often the true believers have to be the first to go.

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u/hanzo1504 4d ago

Isn't that also what US politics is like though? Obviously less authoritarian and there's two parties, but what's the difference between those two really? They're both center-right to right and they both sell out to different interest groups.

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u/MrsACT 5d ago

It’s so hard to upvote this because it’s so horrific, but you’re right, sadly. And this is exactly what will become of the USA if we can’t get the decent people to vote against mini Putin

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u/Fogmoose 5d ago

What a sad way to live life. And what many in the US on the right would probably like to see their country become.

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u/breadiest 4d ago

They did do it once before. Though it was much less of a sole trigger and more of a gradual level of utter suffering for everyone which eventually caused spontaneous revolution in 1917.

They barely had a dog in the race then, in fact its probably very similar to the level of power they have now.

Eventually something will happen, lest all their issues are overblown and they improve their quality of life somehow.

Generally, comparatively low quality of life over long periods of time always leads to shakeups of leadership in any society.

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u/Cdru123 4d ago

If that happened in a western country, anyway, people would also end up having to adapt

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u/RiffsThatKill 5d ago

Yeah but every now and then some of them go apeshit and a revolution happens. Which just goes to show you, even if they realize they can change it...do you really want them to? You never know who comes in after to pick up the pieces and entrench themselves in state power.

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u/Livid_Camel_7415 5d ago

You never know who's going to be the next guy in charge, but you can rest assured that he is going to be your enemy. You worry about capability, the intent is always the same.

No different than another flavor of Kim taking charge in North Korea.

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u/Fogmoose 5d ago

Every now and then? Like once in the last couple of centuries?

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u/Dark_Rit 5d ago

Yeah and that was because the masses were starving. I'm sure some starve in Russia now, but it isn't a big enough number to incite a revolution. It would be miraculous if Russia became a western style of government, but it's not happening.

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u/Fogmoose 5d ago

Every now and then? Like once in the last couple of centuries?

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u/RiffsThatKill 4d ago

Precisely.

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u/Fogmoose 4d ago

I wouldn't classify that as 'now and then'. I would classify that as "rarely to never".

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u/RiffsThatKill 4d ago

And I wouldn't waste my time quibbling over very non-specific language. So classify it however you want, I don't give a shit because that wasn't the lynchpin of the comment lol

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u/Fogmoose 4d ago

Easy, big boy. I'm just pointing it out.

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u/AxDilez 5d ago

Barbara Streisand effect fr

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u/canonlynn 5d ago

My point was that normal people know not to judge kids for what they say because they have years of learning ahead of them. I also agree it is very stupid for the government precisely for the message it sends to its supporters, that humans who are not even fully developed can be jailed for criticism.

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u/Loose_Hornet4126 5d ago

You’re reasoning this out. But I don’t think you get the point that was being made. Perhaps you’re just not able to understand how the world operates at times now and throughout history. It’s naive to assume the right thing is what prevails in these situations.

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u/canonlynn 4d ago

I know about coercion and fear, don't worry about me.

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u/XWarriorYZ 5d ago

If this were really true, one of the thousands of Russian “martyrs” would have been the tipping point for revolution by now. Instead, the Russian people just keep taking the abuse because even if they did hear about what happened to this boy, they would think “he was stupid for speaking out” not “the government is terrible for doing this”.

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u/paanbr 5d ago

Truth hurts.

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u/Delta64 5d ago edited 4d ago

You nailed it.

You want people to forget something?

Starve it of any and all attention.

It's really weird how mainstream media collectively collaborated in 2016 to give Trump as much screen time as possible, and then they behaved like an unforseen disaster had happened when he won.

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u/noiraxen 4d ago

Good thing for him then I suppose is that he doesnt want them to forget. He wants to make sure they remember the price of speaking up against him.  
  
Reddit always yapping about how little/weak/scared putin is and how he is creating a martyr and will wake people up/make them turn against him.  
  
He has been a dictator for over 20 years with hundreds of "martyrs" dead bodies and "turning points" behind him.         
  
Pretty sure he knows better how to keep his power than random redditors.  

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u/Delta64 4d ago

Looks like Putin is getting his WWIII: North Korean troops are to arrive at the frontlines in Ukraine within a month.

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u/Numerous_Society9320 5d ago

handling it this way is spectacularly dumb because now far more people are going to hear the kid's message than if they had just left him alone.

I think this is wishful thinking. This news article is from a Ukraine based human rights group. It's in English. Only 5% of Russians speak English. It's very possible that the vast majority of Russians will never hear about this, and if they will, then it's because the Russian government wants them to.

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u/SilverWear5467 5d ago

I can't load the article right now, but why are we believing the headline exactly? It seems pretty far fetched as written. I mean, Russia obviously is not cracking down on every single person who criticizes the government, so what is the actual truth? Is he leaking info, or what? Because the headline exactly as written is clearly not the whole story.

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u/minnesotalattes 5d ago

Communism doesn't care what you think

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u/ArenjiTheLootGod 5d ago

Russia hasn't been a communist state since the USSR fell back in the 90s, they merely traded one form of authoritarianism for another.