Inside the Kremlin’s velvet grip, Russia’s civil society struggles to survive

You also see signs of this happening in America as well. New laws (environmental, etc.) are being created and used as a tactic to come down on whoever is wanted out of the way. This is why a lot of people don’t see an incoming dictatorship. As seen in this article, the government in a new form of dictatorship will wear you out through legal means and with an endless supply of taxpayer money to back it.

 

Workers at Memorial, Russia’s leading human rights monitor, live under constant, unyielding pressure from the government, which is trying to stymie dissent.

Moscow — All seems perfectly normal on the busy downtown corner where Memorial, Russia’s largest grassroots human rights monitor, maintains its sprawling Moscow headquarters. On most days the building is a hub of activity: people come and go, and even police officers stroll by without so much as a sideways glance.

Yet enter the building and spend a while with the people who tend its vast archives, run seminars, and manage its campaigns, and the feeling of a grinding siege becomes palpable. Among the workers here there is a mounting mood of despair. Some say their nerves are near to snapping, and few believe Memorial can survive much longer.

France’s Noyer Says BNP May Prompt Shift Away From Dollar

Bank of France Governor Christian Noyer said the U.S. investigation into BNP Paribas SA (BNP)’s dealings with sanctioned nations may encourage companies to stop using dollars in international transactions.

“We could say that companies would have maximum interest to do the most possible transactions in other currencies,” Noyer, who is also a member of the European Central Bank’s Governing Council, said yesterday on BFM television. “Trade between China and Europe — do it in euros, do it in renminbi, stop doing it in dollars. This is an affair that will leave marks.”