[War] Russia: "The Truth Will Set You Free"

[Michael Downey]

"The Truth Will Set You Free"
President Leonid Nemerenko
Russian Federation
10 March 2014
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Knowledge was the most powerful weapon any state or individual could
possibly possess. Knowledge shook empires, crippled armies and deposed
tyrants. The Soviets had been keenly aware of this fact and gone to great
lengths to control all information within their empire down to the last word
printed in every book. Nemerenko recalled how astounded he had been at the
easy access Japanese students had to things like photocopiers and
typewriters; such equipment had only recently been tightly controlled in
Russia.

Of course the control of information was in no way a purely Soviet
innovation. The Americans too had been aware of its power. That was why FDR
had persuaded major manufacturing and media companies to delay the
widespread introduction of the television until after the Great Patriotic
War, or 'World War Two' as the Amerikanski called it, had been concluded.

A question that ate at Nemerenko was simple: was Russia different now in
terms of freedom of thought and information as it had been under the
Soviets? Many would say no. Thanks to Putin, Russia had slid to 147th out of
168 in terms of press freedom in 2005. Though that had been ten years ago
and Russia's leaders since, Severov and now Nemerenko himself, did not feel
the need to thuggishly impose their will on the nation by force, the scars
of Putin's failed neo-authoritarian regime were still present.

"If Russia is to continue the path towards become a true, First World
democracy then the free flow of information and the protection of people's
right to think for themselves must be safeguarded," said the President as he
poured a glass of Bavarian lager. Vodka was the national drink of Russia but
'bourgeois' beer had been one of the most widely-embraced novelties of the
post-Soviet Russia, previously unavailable unless you could smuggle it in
from the West or knew someone who was brewing in the basement of their
house. "That we are once again emerging as the most powerful country in
Europe and become recognized again as a power on the world stage should not
be overshadowed by our lacklustre record of media freedom."

"I certainly agree, Comrade President," said Feodor Rushigan, Minister of
Culture and Mass Communications. "I remember so many of my colleges being
beaten, imprisoned and even killed while Putin was still in power."

"Colleges like Politkovskaya," said Nemerenko. Anna Politkovskaya had been
one of the most respected and famous journalists in Russia and an outspoken
critic of the Kremlin at the time. She'd been murdered in 2006, no doubt by
someone in the government who had been threatened by her determination to
write about the truth. To date her death remained unsolved. "Just because
this government does not see the need to browbeat the press for our own gain
like the Putin administration did does not mean there are not problems,
because there are."

"That is why my Ministry wished to call our proposed bill to the Assembly
the 'Politkovskaya Act,'" explained Rushigan. "A comprehensive law that
would do a number of things. First, it would reaffirm the commitment to the
freedom of speech outlined in the Federation Constitution. Second, any act
of violence or intimidation that has the express act of harming or impeding
the press, media and the principle of freedom or information will carry an
automatic prison sentence of five years."

"I suppose you'll want me to add onto the budget of our police and security
services to impose that part," sighed Nemerenko.

"Such is the price we must pay, Comrade President," replied Rushigan dryly.
"Perhaps two billion rubles?" That was about a hundred million US Dollars,
not an unreasonable sum.

"Alright," agreed the President. While he was at it Nemerenko would have a
very long chat with Interior Minister Kalugin. It had been groups like he
MVD, FSB and local militia that had done much of the suppressive acts again
the media, after all. Kalugin had that cunning and ruthless touch that could
impress upon the security services that such behaviour would be frowned
upon.

"On a related note, I'm removing all the bans placed upon NGOs that Putin
had put in place. For obvious reasons he didn't want organizations like
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International snooping around looking at his
dirty laundrey. Since we are actually committed to the ideas of liberty,
democracy and the rule of law, such bans are unseemly." And who knew? Maybe
the NGOs would snoop out some problems that Nemerenko couldn't always see.

"A wise idea," agreed Rushigan. Putin's ban on NGOs had been a clear sign to
both Russians and the world that the deposed president had been sliding the
Federation further and further towards a renewed dictatorship. Abolishing
the laws that Putin had enacted to limit activity of such groups would
demonstrate to the world how committed the new Russia was towards liberty.

Liberty. Such a difficult goal to realize. Even very free nations like the
United States, enemy, rival and friend to Russia, struggled, to preserve
freedom and liberty. How easy it was for supposedly 'democratic'
institutions like the Assembly or even the American Congress to pass
thoroughly anti-democratic pieces of legislation in direct opposition to
provisions within their own constitutions. The Patriot Act for the US
and...... well, Nemerenko could write a list ten miles long on what the
Assembly had passed in the last few years of Putin's reign. Government was
more often than not the plague of liberty, but in this particular instance
it would be the cure.

---

Actions:

1) Introduce the Politkovskaya Act to the Federal Assembly. Guarantee the
freedom of the media and press in Russia. Make the use of violence and other
criminal acts to intimidate the media and limit freedom of the press a
criminal offence.
2) Authorize the spending of 2 billion rubles (100 million USD) to enforce
the criminal section of the Politkovskaya Act.
3) Have a long chat with Minister Kalugin to have him impose onto the
Russian police and security services that the illegal repression of the
press and media will no longer be tolerated. This is counterproductive to
liberty, democracy and Russia's new commitment to the rule of law.
4) Russia will no longer impose bans on NGOs like Amnesty International and
Human Rights Watch as Putin did. All anti-NGO laws passed by Putin will be
abolished.
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