Russian courts halt cases against Alexei Navalny after disappearance | Hacker News Reader

Russian courts halt cases against Alexei Navalny after disappearance

theguardian.com

17 pointsdralley12 comments

Navalny may not be perfect but in my eyes he's a hero. He's put his life on the line all these years to challenge power. There's not many people who would go so far to stand for their principles.

Habeas corpus. It's a really simple principle of justice and a test of self rule. It's disappointing to see the Russian people cede power to such corrupt rule.

“Cede power”? What would you have them do?

You're right, there's absolutely nothing that can be done in this situation. Same as in 1917, nothing could've been done about the czar either.

The Russian performance in Ukraine hasn't been astonishing, but the losses don't compare to 1914-1917.

The comment you replied to does not refer to WWI nor Russia's war with Ukraine, it refers to the Russian Revolution after WWI. It sarcastically indicates that "nothing" can be done now about the unjust state of Russia resulting in Navalny being a political prisoner.

The comment you replied to refers to the Russian Revolution after WWI. The damage inflicted by WWI greatly damaged the Tsarist regime. (And, no war, no German government shipping Lenin back home.)

To compare the current situation in any way with the situation as it was at the time of the Russian revolution is, at best, overly simplistic.

Pretty much the first thing the revolutionaries said was “well that was easy, let’s make sure that cannot happen again”

Power comes from the consent of the governed.

That said, if the military supports the status quo, it would admittedly be nigh impossible to oppose them.

Power comes, everywhere on our planet, from owning and maintaining the monopoly on violence. Which is vested in the military and police. As you rightly point out, going against those is nigh impossible.

Unfortunately, democracy is incredibly expensive in terms of human lives, and once lost there is no way to get it back other than to fight for it.

The "Russian people" cheer for their own oppression. You see, when you're being oppressed you have the perfect excuse for your life being miserable.

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