Redstate

By Pejman Yousefzadeh Posted in Authoritarianism | Contra Tyrannum | Dictatorship | Dmitri Medvedev | Russia | Tyranny | Vladimir Putin — Comments (1) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

I really can't do better than this:

THREE hours before the close of the presidential election on Sunday March 2nd, in which voters massively endorsed Dmitry Medvedev as Russia's next president, a bull-necked security guard (radio in hand, legs apart) barred the entrance to polling station number 3065. The station had been set up in a vast and heaving electronics market, apparently for the convenience of traders. But the few who turned up to vote were told that the station had closed, either because of a terrorist threat or as a result of some obscure "technical" problems. A brief look inside suggested that, although almost empty, it was in fact functioning.

Outside of the polling station stood a large group of men in black leather jackets. These were the same characters your correspondent saw casting multiple votes in the December parliamentary elections. They were soon led away and a four-wheel-drive vehicle arrived. Men emerged carrying a white plastic ballot box and were allowed into the station by a guard, who then shut the door tightly. A young policeman who came to inquire was instructed to leave by figures in plain clothes and promptly did so.

These latter men (one identified himself as a "representative of the international community") glowered, then lunged, violently throwing your correspondent and another foreign journalist on to the nearby street, with a warning never to come back. One offered a piece of advice: "Go back to England, you can ask [the self-exiled opponent of Vladimir Putin, Boris] Berezovsky and Prince Harry your questions. We'll manage here without you." Your correspondent and his colleague were then forced into a taxi, and the bemused driver was ordered to drive to the British Embassy.