[pearjuice]

I'm not sure why or what you are cherry picking here. I could easily quote pieces on how prisoners are treated in Guantanamo Bay, what happened in Abu Ghraib under American supervision or how we happily send billions of dollars to a country of which Save the Children said of the detained children "86% were beaten, 69% were strip searched, 60% spent time in solitary confinement, 68% were denied any healthcare, and 58% were denied visits or communication with family".

I'm not pro-Russia, pro-Putin or pro-anyone-who-detains-opposition-for-life. I'm also not pro people saying "Russia bad" when these things happen everywhere and somehow think they are morally superior.

[KaiserPro]

> you are cherry picking here

You are using logical fallacies to make a point. The UK does not set out to kill political prisoners in it's prison system. It hasn't done since at least the 80s (depending on your view of the 6 counties)

> we happily send billions of dollars to a country

who are a different sovereignty, outside of our control.

Realpolitik here. The world is unsavoury, The "West" wages war, just like russia, china, india and empires of old. However, the crucial point here is that even the UK, doesn't routinely imprison people for political crimes, that is, having an opposing view of the present government. There are, for the moment freedoms and rights that we enjoy.

Lord know it's trying (see protest laws) but the difference in outcome is stark. I can freely say that Sunak is a total failure, a posh wanker who has made things worse for the populace. At no point will that comment land me in jail. If I stand for office and say the same thing, I will not end up dead two years later.

Your viewpoint that the UK is just as "morally free" as russia, really doesn't stand up to scrutiny. Sure, you can support the end of USA hegemony, but that doesn't mean that Russia is a bastion of freedom.

[KingOfCoders]

Assange is in Guantanamo Bay? Since when?

You keep shifting your arguments around.

"Save the Children"

So it's no longer about political prisoners (I assume you think Assange is one), but about children?

"we happily send billions of dollars to a country"

Who is we? You have sent billions of dollars to the US? I haven't.

I thought the article was about Russia, why exactly are we talking about the US prison system now? What is the goal? Making the Russian Gulag look good? Improving the US prison system?

I've campaigned against the US prison system with AI. Did you? If you didn't, it's simply Whataboutism.

Whataboutism has one goal, and one goal alone: Deflect criticism.

"I'm not pro-Russia"

You're words tell a different story.

"morally superior."

Straw man argument.

[pearjuice]

They were cherry picked examples such as your "$10 fine" example to demonstrate that how in multiple places in the world people (and even children) are imprisoned under horrible circumstances, spend their entire lives behind bars and some simply die or get murdered within their prison cell before completing their sentences.

I or you don't have to prove any alliance here. I could be burning a Russian flag in front of your eyes and you would probably still find a reason why I cannot have criticism on one side doing exactly the same injustices and (criminal) acts as the regime of the flag I just burned. Let me be clear that Navalny should not have been treated and died the way he did and in a fair justice system people would be held accountable.

That doesn't mean I cannot state an opinion that it is repulsive things like this happen everywhere yet somehow one side doing it is worse than the other and claims the moral high ground. They are both bad.