[lbo-talk] Russia confiscates papers that have a "political look"

[SA]

Chris Doss wrote:
> I call it somebody complaining to the local authorities about the eXile, the local authorities making an audit to determine if there is anything to it, and the investors running away. Exactly what it looks like, what the local authorities said it was, and what Ames said it was. 

But if some bureaucrats came to do a hate-speech audit in, say, Canada, 
the investors probably wouldn't have panicked and fled, no? Because they 
would assume the worst that could happen was that a modest fine would be 
imposed or something. What Ames is saying, apparently, is that in Russia 
people panic when the authorities come to do a "routine audit" because 
much nastier things are expected to happen:


> And if you do fight the law, then ... well, just this past week there 
> have been two examples of what can happen. The opposition webzine 
> ingushetia.ru was closed by court order, and its lawyer had his 
> apartment raided last week (I was planning to use him to help the 
> Exile until that happened); and one of Russia's largest radio 
> companies was raided by armed police, leaving it temporarily off the air.

SA