Russia’s judicial system: summertime sadness

Russian Constitutional Court file photo

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Natalia Antonova, Acting Editor-in-Chief – August 6, 2013) It was a bit of throwaway news last week: A young man behind the wheel of a Ferrari had struck and killed a pensioner in Moscow in early July. The young man in question, rumored to be the son of a well-known businessman, was let go under the condition that he does not travel (and this is after he tried to run away following the incident).

It is likely he will not be prosecuted at all – the investigator on the case said that there might be a conciliation and the criminal case would be closed (i. e., the family of the pensioner would, perhaps, be compensated).

Meanwhile, most of the people accused of rioting during a May 6, 2012, demonstration in Moscow remain behind bars. No one is dead because of their actions – but still they remain behind bars.

Meanwhile, former village teacher Ilya Farber was sentenced to seven years in a top-security penal colony during a retrial. Farber, who was hated in his village for his “modern” tendencies, was convicted of taking a relatively modest bribe. No one is dead because of Farber’s actions – but he remains behind bars.

Meanwhile, two members of the Pussy Riot punk group are serving time in penal colonies for singing an anti-Putin song in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. No one is dead because of their actions – but they remain behind bars.

I could go on, but I think you get my point.

This is the judicial reality we live with today. This issue is larger than a single traffic accident. It has to do with the normalization of abuse of the weak by the strong. This is why we won’t see Cossack patrollers, for example, going after Ferrari drivers who kill people by accident.

The flipside is a complete lack of tolerance of the idea that the weak can challenge the strong – that’s when the outrage really starts. At best, it is believed that the weak are foolish when they make themselves thus vulnerable. The way the judicial system operates is reflective of this mindset.

None of this is shocking. None of this is even news, when you think about it.

It’s just very sad. And until the State Duma criminalizes public expressions of sadness, we might as well bow our heads for a moment.

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