Wakki News The weird is fun
A Russian protester has been punished for declaring Vladimir Putin’s death would be “better than sex”.
Alexandra, 21, was fined 30,000 rubles (£250) for sporting a bag emblazoned with the words “Sex is cool, but Putin’s death better”.
It’s not the first time she’s run into trouble with the law – the web designer was previously slapped with a £1,675 fine for having a tattoo of a dog in a rainbow-coloured scarf.
Speaking to independent news outlet Mediazona, she said: “They told me to raise the sleeves of my T-shirt, examined all my tattoos, asked me to translate what the inscriptions in English mean, and also took photos of my face and tattoos.”
For her rebellious “anti-war” cotton bag label, she was accused of discrediting Putin’s army, while the tattoo violated laws on “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations”.
Alexandra’s mum is a primary school teacher, and she said police asked her: “How could a daughter like you be born in the family of such a decent mother?”
Russian authorities are clamping down on acts of protest against Putin’s regime or his ongoing war with Ukraine, with Alexandra one of many to have been punished in the crackdown.
Another person on the receiving end of the punishments is opposition leader Alexei Navalny who, despite already being jailed, could tomorrow (Friday, August 4) be handed another lengthy sentence of up to 20 years on a swathe of new extremism charges.
Navalny was previously jailed for 11 years and predicts tomorrow’s closed-door trial will see him locked up for another 18 in what he has branded a “Stalinist” move.
“My number one request – when the [sentence] is heard, please do not show solidarity with me with lamentations and exclamations [that it is] ‘like under Stalin’,” he said ahead of the decision.
“Better show solidarity with me and other political prisoners by thinking for a minute. Think about why such an exponentially huge period is needed.
“Its main purpose is to intimidate. You, not me,” he continued before adding, “Putin should not achieve his goal.”
He then urged his fellow Russians to resist the despot in any way they can, telling them not to “do nothing”.
“It’s a shame to let yourself be intimidated [by Putin],” he said.
