Russian President Vladimir Putin removed several activists critical of his leadership from the Kremlin-linked Human Rights Council, replacing them with figures close to him.
Putin signed a presidential decree this Wednesday excluding Igor Kaliapin, former head of the Committee against Torture, one of the most respected human rights organizations in Russia, and journalist and historian Nikolai Svanidze from this body, among others.
“Under the new conditions, there are other figures who are becoming leaders of public opinion,” presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at his daily press conference.
According to Peskov, the new members of the Council can “better represent civil society”.
However, figures close to the Kremlin (Russian presidency) were included in the Council, as is the case with members of the Popular Front (led by Putin) and the Free Donbass movement, university professors or the war correspondent of the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda , Alexander Kots, who gained popularity during the recent Russian withdrawal from the Ukrainian region of Kherson.
In recent years, Putin has minimized the presence of opposition activists in the Human Rights Council, a trend that has worsened since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces on February 24.
Last week, the Russian president approved a new state policy to defend traditional values against “destructive Western ideology”.
Putin believes that one of the benefits of the exile of opponents and dissidents since the beginning of the Russian military intervention on Ukrainian territory is the “cleansing” of Russian society of people who share Western values.
Source: DN
