Yuri Kobzar20:33, 04/05/24

Analysts consider the demonstrative torture of suspects in the terrorist attack and the approving and silent reaction of the authorities to this to be an indicative moment.

The bloody terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall, where almost one and a half hundred people were killed, may well become a turning point for Russia’s transition to a much harsher regime of dictatorship and repression than it has had so far. The Associated Press writes about this , analyzing the consequences of the tragic event and the reaction of the Russian authorities to it.

“The fallout from the attack on a Moscow concert hall (…) sets the stage for an even tougher reign for President Vladimir Putin following his carefully orchestrated election victory last month,” the publication said.

The publication notes that the terrorist attack demonstrated the complete failure of the Russian intelligence services and was a painful blow to the Kremlin. Therefore, the authorities tried to react in a rather unique way.

Firstly, Vladimir Putin himself and his henchmen began to accuse Ukraine of involvement in the terrorist attack, despite the absence of the slightest evidence. Secondly, quite quickly, videos of brutal torture to which Russian security forces subjected suspects to the terrorist attack appeared on the Internet.

“The rapid and widespread dissemination of these videos is not an accident, but rather a horrific celebration of the Putin government’s brazen disregard for basic rights, fundamental humanity, and the rule of law,” said Tanya Lokshina, deputy Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

Official Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to comment on these videos, and the head of the RT television channel, Margarita Simonyan, even tried to publicly justify the atrocities of the security forces. As the Associated Press notes, many observers took the tacit approval of such brutality as an ominous sign of worse to come.

Former President and now Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev called for the restoration of the Soviet practice of killing political enemies abroad, and the head of the United Russia parliamentary faction, the main Kremlin party, Vladimir Vasiliev said that the State Duma will consider the issue of resuming the death penalty, taking into account “the mood and society’s expectations.”

Russian human rights group Net Freedoms noted that Putin and Medvedev’s harsh statements, made against the backdrop of demonstrative torture of suspects, effectively sanction extrajudicial killings and give law enforcement instructions on how to deal with enemies.

“We see the possible beginning of a new Great Terror. There should be no illusions – the development of events is following a very bad scenario, and the decline is rapidly accelerating,” the group said in a statement.

(C)UNIAN 2024