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Comment by sixQuarks | Hacker News Reader

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Gonzalo Lira is a far right vlogger that has been accused of being a pro-Putin propagandist. It’s not my intent to convince you he is or isn’t, but I have a big fucking problem with OP’s naked attempt at false equivalence.

It looks like Lira is a grade A scumbag, but he seems to be a very careful scumbag. If he’s being persecuted for voicing opinions, no matter how distasteful, that’s a problem.

> he seems to be a very careful scumbag

I would say that he is not. Going in person to a country that has been invaded and shilling for the invaders is not a very careful thing to do. Neither is getting out on bail and telling on social media that you're making a run for Hungary before you've actually done it.

> he seems to be a very careful scumbag

He live-tweeted his attempt to jump bail and illegally cross the border.

Exactly. Free speech isn't about protecting speech you agree with, it's about protecting speech you don't agree with. I don't care how vile this man's thoughts are, it is not right to jail somebody for that and Ukraine is just as bad as Russia for doing so. It needs to be called out especially since we are sending a huge amount of money supporting them.

ukraine banned all political parties… in ukraine being for peace talks is a crime.

They did not, there are about 300 political parties registered in Ukraine. They banned a handful of parties with ties to Russia.

While I'm queasy about the treatment of this guy, he's a foreigner so why not just deport him, banning parties with explicit ties to your enemy in times of war seems prudent.

- Hold that, it appears Lira is actually wanted for sending photos of military gear to Russian intelligence. I don't know how credible that accusation is, but I suppose we'll see.

What is the source that talks about him sending photos of military gear to Russian intelligence?

the pro russia were banned before the war. After the war much more were banned

I'm talking about the ones that were banned in March 2022 after the start of the invasion. I don't think any were banned before then.

> Since 16 December 2015 three communist parties are banned in Ukraine (the Communist Party of Ukraine, Communist Party of Ukraine (renewed) and Communist Party of Workers and Peasants).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decommunization_in_Ukraine

How is it false equivalence? If anything, Gonzalo's case is worse, he's actually been sent to prison and beaten. Dmitry will not even see jail. Both are for the same thought crimes.

I don't know anything about Gonzalo, but are you insinuating that it's okay for people to be locked up because they are accused of being pro-Putin?

He got locked up for sending pictures of Ukrainian military equipment to Russian intelligence.

Proof?

Swap the politics and it looks exactly the same. Solely based on your comment anyway, I don't know either character. You should be aware of your own bias. It is disturbing to see Western "liberals" justify persecuting their political opponents.

Exactly. Look how my comment is getting downvoted. The hypocrisy is palpable. It doesn't matter how repulsive you think this man his, he's being jailed for what he said. How is this any better than Russia?

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