Just a couple of days after Vladimir Putin’s electoral setback, Russian police have
arrested a number of protesters, including veteran liberal politician Boris Nemtsov and the popular blogger Alexei Navalny.
This is the umpteenth time that Nemtsov, the former deputy prime minister of Russia, has been manhandled by the Russian state. He also spent some time in jail at the beginning of 2011 and was subjected to strenuous treatment. But, it is unusual for Navalny to have been pulled in. He is an activist who’s gained prominence among Russian bloggers and reformers. He is not “Russia’s Erin Brockovich”, as hailed by Time Magazine, and many of his recent remarks contain more than a dollop of Russian xenophobia. For evidence of his darker side see this clip where Navalny offers his audience a number of anti-Semitic hints. But he has emerged as the hero of the election.
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