DISINFO: US is no democracy because it sues Soviet-born dissident for airing his views
SUMMARY
The US has brought charges against Dimitri Simes, an outstanding US Soviet-born political scientist and thinker, who has worked for the administration of many legendary US presidents. He was accused of breaking anti-Russian sanctions. Simes was born into a family of Soviet dissidents, left the Soviet Union, and he has to leave the US now. It turns out that he has become a dissident there, too. The US, which is proud of the fact that they have the First Amendment protecting freedom of speech, is accusing him of expressing his views in the media. There is no democracy in the US. It is a tyranny taken to absolute absurdity and a kleptocracy.
RESPONSE
Anti-Western narrative trying to discredit democracy and accuse the US of totalitarianism.
Russian citizen Dimitri Simes and his wife Anastasia were charged by US Department of Justice on 04 September 2024 not because of their political views but for alleged violation of sanctions and money laundering, according to two different indictments (see here and here). Simes had long been seen as a Russian agent of influence in the US and featured prominently in the report by US Special Counsel Robert Mueller about Russian interference in the 2016 election, where he was mentioned dozens of times. However, he was not charged at the time with any crime related to the investigation, which “did not identify evidence that the [Trump] Campaign passed or received any messages to or from the Russian government through […] Simes”, according to the Mueller report. This proves that allegations about these charges being politically motivated are baseless, as Simes and his wife were not charged until they allegedly committed actual crimes under US legislation. These measures are aimed at countering fake news and disinformation and have nothing to do with totalitarianism or clamping down on free media.
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