Persecution of Dissidents in Putin's Russia

Summary |  Excerpt |  Reviews |  Beyond the Book |  Read-Alikes |  Genres & Themes |  Author Bio

A Terrible Country by Keith Gessen

A Terrible Country

A Novel

by Keith Gessen
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (7):
  • First Published:
  • Jul 10, 2018, 352 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Jul 2019, 352 pages
  • Rate this book

About This Book

Persecution of Dissidents in Putin's Russia

This article relates to A Terrible Country

Print Review

Pussy RiotThe political activists in A Terrible Country live in fear of arrest due to the threat of harsh sentences and even bodily harm that is frequently the result of protesting the Putin regime. Putin has a long history of silencing his detractors, using both legal and illegal means, with many critics ending up imprisoned in a gulag (a forced work camp) or dead. In 2014, the Kremlin essentially outlawed peaceful protests, and the punishment for taking part in such an assembly can be up to five years in prison. The repressive nature of the regime's legislature is perhaps best exemplified by the "single person picket" laws enacted in 2004 and amended in 2012. These state that anyone seeking to picket must do so alone "at a minimum distance of 50 meters from any other picketer" and may not picket more than two times within six months.

Here are some examples of Putin's practices:

Anna PolitkovskayaAnna Politkovskaya was a journalist who frequently wrote about human rights violations and corruption within the Russian government. She was shot to death in the lobby of her apartment building on October 7, 2006 (which, incidentally, was Putin's 54th birthday). Two years before her murder, Politkovskaya became ill on a flight to Beslan, and it is widely believed that this illness was the result of an attempted poisoning.

Alexander LitvinenkoLike Putin, Alexander Litvinenko was a former KGB agent. In 2006, he was working with the U.K.'s MI5 intelligence organization investigating Anna Politkovskaya's death when he consumed tea laced with radioactive polonium-210 in a London hotel, allegedly administered by another former Russian agent. Litvenko died a few days later.

Boris NemtsovBoris Nemtsov was a former deputy prime minister and well-known Putin oppositional figure. He was shot and killed outside of the Kremlin in 2015. At the time of his death, Nemtsov was reportedly investigating the activities of the Russian military in Ukraine.

Garry KasparovRussian chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov has been arrested, imprisoned, and assaulted as a result of his vocal criticism of Putin. Kasparov was arrested twice at political rallies in 2007 while running as an opposition presidential candidate. In a 2015 interview with PBS's Frontline, Kasparov remarked on his decision to emigrate to the United States, explaining, "Right now, for me, going back to Russia would be a one-way ticket. I think that with my political views and my open statements, I wouldn't stay free for long in Russia...people sharing the same views and being as loud as myself, they're either behind bars or out of the country."

Pussy RiotPerhaps the most well-known example of Putin's intolerance for protest is the 2012 arrest and trial of three members of the activist collective Pussy Riot after they performed an anti-Putin song in a Moscow church. The women were convicted of "hooliganism" and sentenced to two years in a gulag, an event that garnered international attention and outrage. In September 2018, Pyotr Verzilov, another member of Pussy Riot was hospitalized following a suspected poisoning. He recovered, and vowed to keep speaking out against corruption and oppression in Russia.

Oleg SentsovFinally, activist and filmmaker Oleg Sentsov was arrested on trumped up charges of terrorism after protesting the Russian annexation of Crimea. His trial and life sentence in 2015 have resulted in international outcry from human rights organizations. Senstsov underwent a 144 day hunger strike in the Labytnangi gulag in 2018. Sentsov is currently co-directing films from within his prison cell.

Pussy Riot
Anna Politkovskaya
Alexander Litvinenko
Boris Nemtsov
Garry Kasparov
Pussy Riot members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova (right), Maria Alyokhina (center) and Yekaterina Samutsevich (left) courtesy of eurofolkradio.com
Oleg Sentsov

Filed under Society and Politics

Article by Lisa Butts

This "beyond the book article" relates to A Terrible Country. It originally ran in September 2018 and has been updated for the July 2019 paperback edition. Go to magazine.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
Death at the Sign of the Rook
by Kate Atkinson
Jackson Brodie returns in a gripping new mystery! Welcome to Rook Hall. By night’s end, a murderer will be revealed.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    A Club of One's Own
    by BookBrowse

    Dreaming of starting or reviving a book club? A Club of One’s Own is the essential guide to doing it right.

  • Book Jacket

    The Magician of Tiger Castle
    by Louis Sachar

    The author of Holes returns with a magical adult debut about forbidden love and a kingdom on the brink of collapse.

  • Book Jacket

    This Here Is Love
    by Princess Joy L. Perry

    Three people—two enslaved, one indentured—struggle to overcome the limits and labels of their painful shared pasts.

Win This Book
Win All the Men I've Loved Again

All the Men I've Loved Again by Christine Pride

Christine Pride's solo debut explores a woman's love triangle in her 20s that unexpectedly resurfaces in her 40s.

Enter

Book
Trivia

  • Book Trivia

    Can you name the title?

    Test your book knowledge with our daily trivia challenge!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

T T O the T

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.