In 1930, a 12-year-old Russian peasant boy named Pavel (“Pavlik”) Morozov, became a hero of Soviet society by allegedly denouncing his father to the government authorities. (Two years later, he became a martyr of the Soviet state when he was purportedly killed by his family for his “patriotic” actions.) Statues were erected in his honor; he was the darling of the Soviet press, and a role model for Soviet youth for many years.

The fact that the whole story was later debunked as propaganda didn’t never fazed Joseph Stalin. What mattered was “Pavlik’s” usefulness as a means of encouraging other youths to rat out their neighbors, friends, teachers, and even their own families for any perceived infraction of Soviet law or policy. Tragically, it worked.

And now — nearly a century later — a 68-year-old Russian pediatrician is facing charges of dissemination of “fake news” about the Russian military, based solely on the questionable testimony of a seven-year-old patient and his mother.

According to the boy’s mother, Anastasia Akinshina, Dr. Nadezhda Buyanova made comments in the presence of her son to the effect that the child’s father — who had been a Russian soldier killed in the war in Ukraine — was a “legitimate military target.” The statement was allegedly made when Akinshina was explaining to the doctor that the boy was struggling with the trauma of having lost his father. [RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, November 8, 2024.]

Buyanova denies having made any such comment, or even having discussed the boy’s father during the office visit. Her defense attorney argued that the case was based on “slander and deliberate fabrication,” and pointed out contradictions in the testimony of the seven-year-old — who, the attorney also argued, was too young even to understand terms he had used, such as “aggressor country,” “legitimate target,” or “special military operation.” [Id.]

Buyanova was dismissed from her job after Akinshina filed her complaint. However, she appealed the dismissal, and a court ruled in her favor in July, ordering her reinstatement.

Yet, having been arrested in February of this year, she has remained in “pretrial detention” ever since. She now stands trial under Vladimir Putin’s so-called “fake news” law, which targets critics of the government in general and the war in Ukraine in particular. The prosecution has requested a six-year prison sentence.

When asked before today’s hearing how she had survived the past months of pretrial detention, she replied, “My knowledge that I am innocent.” [The Moscow Times, November 8, 2024.]

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Akinshina’s purpose in filing the original complaint against Dr. Buyanova is unclear. But — for the “justice system” of today’s Russian government — it is obviously sufficient cause to destroy a life.

Dr. Buyanova — and the world — now await the court’s decision on the rest of her life.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
11/8/24