In many eyes, Vladimir Putin is seen as a badass action man – with the constant press coverage of him saving whales, wresting bears, hanging out with bikes and driving F1 cars – but many see a propaganda machine at hand with a president who has something up his sleeve against the western nations. Now though, Putin has put some of it on the line to discuss the pressing issues surrounding this globe.
PUSSY RIOT
Russian President Vladimir Putin was questioned about the recent Pussy Riot sentences in which 3 female band members were jailed for their rebellious anti-putin protest staged inside the Moscow church Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.
Putin responded by endeavoring to draw attention to what he labeled “the moral side” of the Pussy Riot story.
The Russian president then described a sequence of political stunts that some of the incarcerated women were tangled in before they formed Pussy Riot. Referring to acts of performance art carried out in previous years by another group of dissident artists, the collective known as Voina, or “War” in Russian, Mr. Putin said:
“First, in case you never heard of it, a couple of years ago one of the band’s members put up three effigies in one of Moscow’s big supermarkets, with a sign saying that Jews, gays and migrant workers should be driven out of Moscow. I think the authorities should have looked into their activities back then.”
“After that, they staged an orgy in a public place. Of course, people are allowed to do whatever they want to do, as long as it’s legal, but this kind of conduct in a public place should not go unnoticed by the authorities.”
“You know, Russians still have painful memories of the early years of Soviet rule, when thousands of Orthodox, Muslim, as well as clergy of other religions were persecuted. Soviet authorities brutally repressed the clergy. Many churches were destroyed. The attacks had a devastating effect on all our traditional religions. And so in general I think the state has to protect the feelings of believers.”
ONLINE FREEDOM
When asked about his stance on the constantly heating argument of copyright, internet freedom and online censorship, Mr. Putin insisted that his only concern was to “ban child pornography” online. “Any steps we take are in the interests of the Russian people, and our children need this kind of protection,” he said. “No one is going to use this as a tool to restrict the Internet or online freedoms, but we have the right to protect our children.”
SYRIA
Talking about the civil war in Syria, Mr. Putin said Moscow would not diminish its disapproval to armed intervention or endorsements on Bashar al-Assad’s government, claiming that the West was using Islamic fundamentalists to ultimately oust Assad.
“Today some people want to use militants from al-Qaeda or some other organizations with equally radical views to accomplish their goals in Syria. This policy is dangerous and very short-sighted,” he said.
“…one should unlock Guantánamo, arm all of its inmates and bring them to Syria to do the fighting – it’s practically the same kind of people.”
ASSANGE
When asked about WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange, the Russian President put it down to “a political case” and with the 2010 WikiLeaks release of US diplomatic cables describing Russia as “a mafia state” – despite the fact that Assange later went on to become an affiliate of Kremlin-powered news network Russia Today (RT).
“As far as I know, Ecuador asked Sweden for guarantees that Mr Assange will not be extradited from Sweden to the United States. It has received no such guarantees. Of course, this leads one to think that this is a political case,”
“We are always being told about the independence of the judicial system in Britain – that it takes a decision and no one can influence it.”
“They [the British judiciar] decided to extradite him. What is this? Of course it is double standards, that is clear,”
