Recently, a Russian man's daughter drew an anti Ukranian war picture at her school. The school's principal reported her to the police. The father has now received a gaol sentence and the daughter is in a child care facility.
This is Putin's totalitarian regime in operation. It bears all the hallmarks all totalitarian states. Any form of dissent must be stamped out immediately. As a brave Russian dissident, currently living in Europe said recently, "In Putin's Russia Dissent is followed by poison, gaolg or deportation."
Fortunately, the father, who was wearing an electronic device in home detention, was able to remove the electronic shackle and is now missing. It is said some in the courtroom cheered when that news was given to the judge by the prosecutor. Very brave of them.
We can condemn the school principal, however, it is probable that he would have also faced gaol himself, if he had not reported the girl's "crime". That is how totalitarian states work. Everyone is a snitch, for their own self protection.
In 1963, I lived in Toronto and got to know a Czechoslovakian asylum seeker. He had sought political asylum in Canada when he was returning from a conference in Cuba. I'll call him Joe.
In his home country, Joe was separated from his wife but had weekly access to his son. One Saturday, on an outing with his son, the boy asked him why there were so many armed soldiers in the streets.
Joe replied that the soldiers had to carry guns because some people may become unruly if soldiers did not have those guns to keep them in order.
A few days later, at three o'clock in the morning, Joe was roughly roused from his sleep by the local version of the secret police and taken away for interrogation.
it seems his son had mentioned the incident to his mother who had quickly told the local police that her former husband was telling her son that the Czech people would revolt against the communist government if they were not continually threatened with guns.
Well, Joe, managed to talk his way out of trouble (maybe his inquisitors also had vengeful ex wives).
About a month later, Joe, who was a television animator, attended a conference in Havana, Cuba, for people working in TV.
On the flight home, his plane stopped to refuel in Gander, Newfoundland.
Joe, with the other passengers, disembarked and went to have a meal in as dining area. There were several government officials (secret police) in the group which was in a separate area from all other the travellers. The only door out of their enclosed dining area was guarded by a large, Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman.
After a while, Joe stood up an announced he was going to the toilet. He started walking slowly towards the toilets but, as he neared the big Canadian mounted police man, he sprinted towards the door. Several "government officials" set off in hot pursuit after him.
Joe made it to the Mountie, a few seconds ahead of his minders. The Mountie quickly twigged what was happening. He opened the door to let Joe through and then quickly closed it. He then stood as resolute as Horatio on the Bridge, stopping the government minders from grabbing Joe, who had continued running through the building until he saw another Mountie and said he was seeking asylum.
Joe finished up working in Toronto with a friend of mine, who was also a TV animator.
I met Joe socially many times. He was sorry that he was unlikely to ever see his son again but he was forever grateful that now he lived in a beautiful, free country, Canada.
Despite the kindly actions of the burly Mountie, Joe always had a fear of men in uniform.
Living in Toronto, my friends and I often spent weekends in Buffalo and Niagara Falls.
On one occasion we took Joe with us. As we walked across the Peace Bridge to the American side of the Falls, Joe became agitated. Up ahead, he could see uniformed Canadian and US customs officers whose job it was to check passports of people passing between Canada and the USA. Our experience on the Peace Bridge was that, even as Australians, we were usually waved through without anybody ever stamping our passports, or even looking at them.
We told Joe not to worry. However, he became more agitated and soon turned around and walked back to the Canadian side.
We followed him back. Later on we convinced him to drive with us across the bridge. Our car had Canadian plates and, as usual, we were just waved straight through.
How terrible it must be to live in a dictatorship where even an innocent conversation with your child can result in an early morning raid from the secret police?.
How horrible is it that a person's life is so traumatised by totalitarianism that the mere sight of a uniform can cause a panic attack?
I hope the father in the story above finds freedom in a country where he can one day live with his young daughter.
Imagine her grief..and guilt..that her innocent peaceful anti war drawing has made her father a fugitive from a regime that cannot tolerate even the mildest form of dissent.
We can always find reasons to grumble and groan because the government of the day is not doing something about something that we think they should.
However, we should be grateful everyday that we can complain, grizzle, write nasty letters of protest to the papers but the government will not lock us up...unless we are violent of course.
Let us be very, very grateful that we do not live in a country where a father can be sentenced to a long gaol term because his school aged daughter drew a a picture calling for Peace on Earth.
