Activist Tells Clinton About Russian Draftees' "slavery"
- JRL 2012-118
file photoThe meeting, held during Clinton's current visit to St. Petersburg, brought together about 15 activists.
One, Ella Polyakova, head of Soldiers' Mothers of St. Petersburg, told Interfax that Clinton walked over to each activist when the journalists left the meeting.
"We told her about our problems, our concerns. Someone even presented her with some books. I said that there is a huge problem in our country, a problem that is completely unimaginable in the U.S. - our military draft system, which is a modern form of slavery," Polyakova said.
"The way young men are treated here is savagery: it's violence, it's death, it's regular slavery. The format of our meeting was such that Hillary had very brief meetings with everyone, but it seemed to me that that problem impressed her," the activist said.
St. Petersburg attorney Dmitry Dinze, who was also present and the meeting, said on Twitter that he had told Clinton about "political persecutions of activists."
"About 12 people took part in the meeting. They spoke about the fields they work in. I spoke about political persecutions of activists," Dinze said. "I also spoke about the falsification of criminal cases. (Rights activist Dmitry) Dubrovsky and I have decided to do socio-political research on activists that have criminal charges framed up against them. Now all the activities will have socio-political explanations of why they are persecuted by the Russian authorities."
Dubrovsky, who is a member of the Russia without Racism group, was also present at the meeting. The other participants included Natalya Yevdokimova, leader of the St. Petersburg Human Rights Council, and Michael McFaul, U.S. ambassador to Russia.
Keywords: Russia, Military - Russian News - Russia
file photoThe meeting, held during Clinton's current visit to St. Petersburg, brought together about 15 activists.
One, Ella Polyakova, head of Soldiers' Mothers of St. Petersburg, told Interfax that Clinton walked over to each activist when the journalists left the meeting.
"We told her about our problems, our concerns. Someone even presented her with some books. I said that there is a huge problem in our country, a problem that is completely unimaginable in the U.S. - our military draft system, which is a modern form of slavery," Polyakova said.
"The way young men are treated here is savagery: it's violence, it's death, it's regular slavery. The format of our meeting was such that Hillary had very brief meetings with everyone, but it seemed to me that that problem impressed her," the activist said.
St. Petersburg attorney Dmitry Dinze, who was also present and the meeting, said on Twitter that he had told Clinton about "political persecutions of activists."
"About 12 people took part in the meeting. They spoke about the fields they work in. I spoke about political persecutions of activists," Dinze said. "I also spoke about the falsification of criminal cases. (Rights activist Dmitry) Dubrovsky and I have decided to do socio-political research on activists that have criminal charges framed up against them. Now all the activities will have socio-political explanations of why they are persecuted by the Russian authorities."
Dubrovsky, who is a member of the Russia without Racism group, was also present at the meeting. The other participants included Natalya Yevdokimova, leader of the St. Petersburg Human Rights Council, and Michael McFaul, U.S. ambassador to Russia.