Russian Free Speech
I was on an train from Paris to Bologna when the news came out that Boris Yeltsin had gone to the great vodka bar in the sky. Say what you like about Boris and the bottle, at least he respected freedom of speech - not how things are now. On my last day in Moscow I saw 9000 troops lining the streets to deter a handful of liberals trying to wave little flags. Convoys were military vehicles packed with conscripts cruised the streets - reminiscent of the regular coups of the early 90s - but no Yeltsin figure stood up on a tank - and nobody would have cheered him if he had. To put this in perspective, the British have fewer troops trying to control a large chunk of southern Afghanistan.
Meanwhile a rally of arm-band wearing Putin Youth were running a sponsored rally equipped with giant TV screens. Claes Fredrick of Exbiblio sent me this link about the latest clamp down on Russian radio. Now radio stations have been told that they must put out at least 50% “good news”. In the Yelstin era I went around Russian radio stations on an EU sponsored tour, promoting democracy and free reporting. What a waste of time! Of the domestics, only the noble Echo Moskvi continues to broadcast independent news, and their journalists like to blog too.
So my Russian blog adventure is more or less at a close - though I must do a little follow through. I’m still wondering if the Kremlin will clamp down on blogs before next year’s presidential elections - if and when they do, I don’t think it will be a Chinese style block - it will be more of a judicial hassle. It’s impossible to sneeze in Russia without breaking some law. This was one typical incident. I was in a car at a set of red traffic lights and a traffic cop pointed at my driver with a long baton. She was fined a paltry 50 roubles because her wheels were pointing at a slight angle, and he said she could not drive off in a straight line when the lights went green. There was a lot of form filling and she had to go to some distant bank to pay the $2 fine. Most people would have offered a $20 or $50 bribe to save the bother. Basically, if anyone in power says you have broken the law, then you have . This is the reality of Russia - it always has been - but under Yeltsin there was a brief hope of change. I can’t say that anyone minds. They are far too busy getting rich - or at least buying cars and holidays on credit. Nobody can blame them. It’s nice to enjoy a little prosperity - and they might as well do so so long as there is trouble in the Middle East and the Oil Price remains high. This one reason, of course, why Russia is selling nuclear reactors to Iran, or so I believe.
There is little hunger for free speech in Russia - but I admire the brave souls who keep the flame of hope alive. Russia is a place were blogging is really exclusive, fashionable, and vain - but also really important.
