[HIGHLIGHTS] Repression in Putin's Russia: "People find it difficult to recognize that the state is criminal"

Human rights activist Irina Scherbakova sees the origin of Putinism in the lack of coming to terms with the past. She warns that the situation of political prisoners could worsen after the “election” in Russia.

Until perestroika, talking about the Gulag was taboo, and there was silence about the notorious penal camps of the Stalin era. In a survey, almost half of all respondents between 18 and 24 years old had never heard of Stalinist repressions.