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A friend of mine was in such situation in Russia. She is a journalist specializing on exotic countries and regions. She has applied for an international passpor

A friend of mine was in such situation in Russia. She is a journalist specializing on exotic countries and regions. She has applied for an international passport and was approached by an FSB (Russian FBI) agent. She agreed to meet with him and a lawyer. The FSB agent just disappeared and did not return calls. She has never heard from them again.

1cvmask 6y ago
So more rights in Russia then?
- betterunix2 6y ago
  She probably wasn't worth the effort. Pretty sure if the FSB considered her even moderately worth pursuing they would have exerted far more (and worse) pressure than the FBI does...
  - achikin 6y ago
    I think if you are a lawful citizen, appear with a lawyer and make the case public - you won't worth the effort anyway.
  - FpUser 6y ago
    >"if the FSB considered her even moderately worth pursuing" Following your logic they've contacted her just for the fuck of it. Looks like grasping at straws trying to prove that russian asshole got to be worse than the american asshole.
    - betterunix2 6y ago
      Or maybe they figured it was only worth trying once, and not really worth pursuing further when it became clear that she would not cooperate. It is not grasping at straws to claim that when the Russians want to make someone's life hard they are far less restrained about it than the Americans. American political activists face BS criminal charges and are sometimes placed on the no-fly list; Russian political activists find themselves poisoned with radioactive metals and with nerve agents.
      - FpUser 6y ago
        >"Or maybe they figured it was only worth trying once, and not really worth pursuing further when it became clear that she would not cooperate." Well then FSB had treated her way better than FBI treated Ahmad. As for the main point - assholes (or let just say criminals protected by respective government) are still assholes. There is no reason to be proud that you did not fuck / killed as many.
        betterunix2 6y ago
        "assholes (or let just say criminals protected by respective government) are still assholes" Given the choice, would you rather be a dissident in the USA or in Russia? Would you rather be Ed Snowden (the US politely asks that he come home to stand trial) or Alexei Navalny (nearly died after Russian agents slipped poison into his tea)? You say there is no difference, so maybe you would like to just flip a coin. It is beyond absurd to claim that the US is just as bad as Russia, and it is equally ridiculous to claim that no comparisons can be drawn and all crimes are just as bad. Of course the US has done things that are wrong, but what Russia does is much worse. It is not a matter of being proud, it is a matter of being rational.
        FpUser 6y ago
        >"It is beyond absurd to claim that the US is just as bad as Russia" Bad in what way? If we are talking treating their own subjects I would say in average the US does much better than Russia. No argument here. Does not mean that it did not kill people for political reasons. Victims of Kent State shootings or Fred Hampton may attest to that. I am pretty sure if you dig deep enough you will uncover some more. Internationally I think US kills and otherwise harms way more people than Russia. They just declare it legal and sleep well. Again victims might disagree.
      - roget 6y ago
        lol OK CIA
- achikin 6y ago
  My point was that all law enforcement agents across the world are same at their core. They are very good at putting pressure on people and exercising people's bounds. So, I think, making things public, defending your rights actively and bringing a lawyer helps in any country. Regarding the Black Lists - we have that in Russia too. They can even block you from using your bank account and it's very hard to get off that lists too.

1cvmask 6y ago

So more rights in Russia then?

betterunix2 6y ago
She probably wasn't worth the effort. Pretty sure if the FSB considered her even moderately worth pursuing they would have exerted far more (and worse) pressure than the FBI does...
- achikin 6y ago
  I think if you are a lawful citizen, appear with a lawyer and make the case public - you won't worth the effort anyway.
- FpUser 6y ago
  >"if the FSB considered her even moderately worth pursuing" Following your logic they've contacted her just for the fuck of it. Looks like grasping at straws trying to prove that russian asshole got to be worse than the american asshole.
  - betterunix2 6y ago
    Or maybe they figured it was only worth trying once, and not really worth pursuing further when it became clear that she would not cooperate. It is not grasping at straws to claim that when the Russians want to make someone's life hard they are far less restrained about it than the Americans. American political activists face BS criminal charges and are sometimes placed on the no-fly list; Russian political activists find themselves poisoned with radioactive metals and with nerve agents.
    - FpUser 6y ago
      >"Or maybe they figured it was only worth trying once, and not really worth pursuing further when it became clear that she would not cooperate." Well then FSB had treated her way better than FBI treated Ahmad. As for the main point - assholes (or let just say criminals protected by respective government) are still assholes. There is no reason to be proud that you did not fuck / killed as many.
      - betterunix2 6y ago
        "assholes (or let just say criminals protected by respective government) are still assholes" Given the choice, would you rather be a dissident in the USA or in Russia? Would you rather be Ed Snowden (the US politely asks that he come home to stand trial) or Alexei Navalny (nearly died after Russian agents slipped poison into his tea)? You say there is no difference, so maybe you would like to just flip a coin. It is beyond absurd to claim that the US is just as bad as Russia, and it is equally ridiculous to claim that no comparisons can be drawn and all crimes are just as bad. Of course the US has done things that are wrong, but what Russia does is much worse. It is not a matter of being proud, it is a matter of being rational.
        FpUser 6y ago
        >"It is beyond absurd to claim that the US is just as bad as Russia" Bad in what way? If we are talking treating their own subjects I would say in average the US does much better than Russia. No argument here. Does not mean that it did not kill people for political reasons. Victims of Kent State shootings or Fred Hampton may attest to that. I am pretty sure if you dig deep enough you will uncover some more. Internationally I think US kills and otherwise harms way more people than Russia. They just declare it legal and sleep well. Again victims might disagree.
    - roget 6y ago
      lol OK CIA
achikin 6y ago
My point was that all law enforcement agents across the world are same at their core. They are very good at putting pressure on people and exercising people's bounds. So, I think, making things public, defending your rights actively and bringing a lawyer helps in any country. Regarding the Black Lists - we have that in Russia too. They can even block you from using your bank account and it's very hard to get off that lists too.