Russia Issues Arrest Warrant For Ex-Chess Champion Garry Kasparov

Longtime Slashdot reader ArchieBunker shares a report from The Mirror: The city court in Syktyvkar, the largest city in Russia's northwestern Komi region, announced it had arrested [former world chess champion Garry Kasparov] in absentia alongside former Russian parliament member Gennady Gudkov, Ivan Tyutrin co-founder of the Free Russia Forum -- which has been designated as an "undesirable organization in the country -- as well as former environmental activist Yevgenia Chirikova. All were charged with setting up a terrorist society, according to the court's press service. As all were charged in their absence, none were physically held in custody.

"The court has selected a measure of restraint for Garry Kasparov, Gennady Gudkov, Yevgenia Chirikova and Ivan Tyutrin, charged with establishing and heading a terrorist society, funding terrorist activity and justifying it publicly," the court said according to Kremlin-backed outlet TASS. "The court granted the investigative bodies' motions to remand Kasparov, Gudkov, Chirikova and Tyutrin in custody as a measure of restraint."

Kasparov responded to the court's bizarre arrest statement in an April 24 post shared on X, formerly Twitter. "In absentia is definitely the best way I've ever been arrested," he said. "Good company, as well. I'm sure we're all equally honored that Putin's terror state is spending time on this that would otherwise go persecuting and murdering." The report notes that Kasparov "found himself in Russian President Vladimir Putin's firing line after he voiced his opposition to the country's leader." The report continues: "He has also pursued pro-democracy initiatives in Russia. But he felt unable to continue living in Russia after he was jailed and allegedly beaten by police in 2012, according to the Guardian. He was granted Croatian citizenship in 2014 following repeated difficulties in Russia."

Doesn't he live in New York?

[backslashdot]

He was at a conference I went to some years back, he was saying he lived in New York. I guess the Russians are going to have to get him via a CIA-style "extraordinary rendition" or Navalny-style diverting his flight .. or Uber.

Re:Doesn't he live in New York?

[Valgrus Thunderaxe]

Or polonium.

Re:

[93 Escort Wagon]

Yeah, it's funny how several of Putin's remote enemies have come down with cases of accidental polonium poisoning.

Re:

[christoban]

If there's such a thing as an polonium "antidote," I hope he carries several doses.

Re:

[ShanghaiBill]

If there's such a thing as a polonium "antidote,"

Polonium is a radioactive actinide element with a half-life of 138 days. It is a very strong alpha emitter. It is chemically similar to selenium.

The best antidote is an actinide chelating agent such as dimercapto-propanesulfonate (DMPS).

But most victims don't even realize they've been injected until too much damage has already been done.

I hope he carries several doses.

Realistically, he doesn't need to worry about it. He isn't important enough for Putin to take risks to kill him.

Kasparov is a kook. He's an advocate of the Phantom time cons [wikipedia.org]

Re:Doesn't he live in New York?

[christoban]

LOL everyone has their weird spots. I'm not sure how you can say he's a "kook" who is "not important enough" when he is at the head of Free Russian and Putin just put him on a hit list.

Re:

[newbie_fantod]

Realistically, he doesn't need to worry about it. He isn't important enough for Putin to take risks to kill him.

He has every reason to worry. He's an internationally recognized news worthy figure, and therefore, absolutely the ideal candidate for a messy public long drawn-out assassination by someone everybody knows is responsible, though nobody can prove it. Putin risks nothing by killing him.

Re:

[ls671]

Or polonium.

Indeed, I didn't find his comments on the matter too smart. If I was him, I'd just shut up and be happy wherever I am. No point at all in teasing Putin with his comments on him IMHO.

Re:

[ihavesaxwithcollies]

Or they could just rig an election and have Trump hand him over on a silver platter.

Re:Doesn't he live in New York?

[ihavesaxwithcollies]

Do you need me to draw you fucking retards a picture?

Russia already meddled in one Trump election. Is it really a stretch for them to do it again?

Trump has had Russian agents in his circle and did very pro-russian things while in office.

I'm sorry a lot of you rubes voted for a Russian agent that is compromised and does Putin's bidding. Trump is a sell-out and a Russian agent.

Re:

[africanrhino]

This, right. I mean the decorum USA established is that it’s ok to meddle politically and socially.. if not by coup then by creating trade positions they can exploit or by flooding the world with propaganda honestly, countries _should_ meddle if a country has a history of it. It’s their practically duty.

Re:

[mesterha]

I don't think it was disproven. The most serious investigation was the Mueller report. He just said there was not enough evidence to charge anyone for criminal conspiracy. Most people agree there was enough evidence to charging Trump for obstruction, but DOJ policy prevented that.

However, I think it's interesting that the pivotal Russian hacking of the Democrats started right after Trump asked for Russia to interfere. Trump said, "Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 em

Re:

[drinkypoo]

Trump is a sell-out and a Russian agent.

Trump is not smart enough to be a Russian agent and actual Russian agents are not dumb enough to trust him with any damning information. Trump is a Russian asset (and Melania is his handler.)

Re:

[drinkypoo]

This you bro? Tell your handlers to give you some better lines.

Friendly Democratic Reminder

[Tablizer]

Gary, stay away from windows in tall buildings, don't take private aircraft, and test ALL your food on a hamster first.

Re:Friendly Democratic Reminder

[Black Parrot]

and test ALL your food on a hamster first.

But only a hamster that you don't like.

Re:

[whatshisname]

And get a Geiger counter.

Re:

[hawk]

And rain. Avoid rain.

Someone might have an umbrella . . .

Check.

[Known Nutter]

Check.

Huh?

[Black Parrot]

How do you arrest someone in absentia ?

Re:Huh?

[dlleigh]

It's a head scratcher, isn't it. After they try him in absentia, maybe they'll imprison him in absentia and then execute him in absentia.

Re:Huh?

[alvinrod]

It's not quite as weird as the pope who had a predecessor dug up to be put on trial [wikipedia.org]. As much as a circus as modern politics seem like at times, there's always something that's a whole level of bizarre beyond where we're at.

Re:Huh?

[evil_aaronm]

That really puts the "corpus" in habeas corpus, I'd say.

Re:Huh?

[physicsphairy]

It's not quite as weird as the pope who had a predecessor dug up to be put on trial [wikipedia.org]. As much as a circus as modern politics seem like at times, there's always something that's a whole level of bizarre beyond where we're at.

We do more-or-less the same thing today. Our posthumous trials take place in city council meetings and the punishment is pronounced upon [cnn.com] stone and metal bearing the image of the guilty party.

The shared purpose is to publicly revoke any extant legitimacy that might be associated with deceased person or their ideas.

Re:Huh?

[arglebargle_xiv]

Yeah, it's like me saying "I had sex in absentia with Angela White", a certain amount of physical presence is required to actually make it work.

Re:

[RossCWilliams]

I suspect "arrest" is a mistranslation and that "indicted" or "charged" would be a more appropriate terms. But not nearly as interesting. You can now add Kasparov to the long list of Russians who have been "arrested" for criticizing Putin or the Russian government.

Re:

[nicubunu]

I suspect is a correct translation. With an arrest warrant issued, if he put a step on Russian jurisdiction, he will be arrested on the spot. The same if he goes to a country that has extradition accords with Russia. Just the same as International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant on Putin.

Re:

[Bob_Who]

How do you arrest someone in absentia ?

It begins for an absentee ballot for anyone alive except Putin.

Re:

[Luckyo]

I went to read about this on Russian internet to see what this is about, here's a story about it:

https://www.interfax.ru/russia... [interfax.ru]

Apparently Russian Federation indeed has a concept of arrest in absentia. Story explains that this court order is for arrest of two months in absentia (literally "beyond sight" in Russian), which will be executed if Kasparov is arrested anywhere in Russian Federation, or extradited to Russian Federation.

It's not just Kasparov. There are four names on the list of those arrested in

Re:

[vbdasc]

Also story says that this decisions doesn't have the power of law yet, which suggests that it's being appealed.

In post-Soviet Russia, it isn't safe for a lawyer to represent the interests of a people's enemy. Reference: Navalny's attorneys.

Re:

[Luckyo]

Sadly that's not a good measuring stick any more. Look at what happened to quite a few of Trump's attorneys.

Re:

[Luckyo]

No, not the same. There's a spectrum. But we no longer get to pretend that this is a uniquely Soviet/Russian thing any more.

See, that's the problem with doing banana republic things to your political opponents. It reflects on everyone in your nation, whether you like it or not. To an extent, it even reflects on your entire allied structure. This is why we criticise nations like Turkey for doing the banana republic shit.

Re:

[vbdasc]

How do you arrest someone in absentia ?

Arrest his effigy. For best effect, torture it with voudun.

Re:Huh?

[billybob2001]

How do you arrest someone in absentia ?

Just think of it being like En Passant

Re:

[hawk]

>How do you arrest someone in absentia ?

"You keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means."

Putin

[christoban]

Let's issue an arrest warrant against Putin.

One day someone is going to assassinate his Hitler wannabe ass.

Cue the orks.

Re:

[christoban]

Irony is its own reward.

And to ensure his maximum suffering.

Re:

[vbdasc]

There are only 2 things that can stop national Führer bad guys: bullets and age. Everything else is virtue signaling.

There, FTFY. There were a lot of bad leaders that stepped down after elections.

Re:

[alvinrod]

Putin will probably go out like Stalin. Everyone will be too terrified to approach him that he'll die in agony because no one wants to incur his wrath by daring to check on him. Putting a bullet in his head is too kind.

Re:

[christoban]

Polonium would be perfect.

Re:

[Bob_Who]

Putting a bullet in his head is too kind.

You're right. He is sentenced to mortality.
May he grow ever more feeble and irrelevant until some teenager on a skateboard no longer recognizes him on May Day.
I hope he falls off his pony and nobody bothers to help him off the dung..
Vlad the bad, Vlad the sad. Vlad kicked in the nads by his horsey.

Re:

[vbdasc]

May he grow ever more feeble and irrelevant until some teenager on a skateboard no longer recognizes him on May Day.

Nonsense. You should've seen Leonid Brezhnev around his last years. He looked as a reanimated corpse. Never underestimate Soviet gerontocracy.

Re:

[vbdasc]

Stalin had persecuted, killed or put lots of medical professionals in GULAG before that (Google "Doctors' plot"). Putin hasn't done such a thing (yet).

Re:

[nicubunu]

Already happened [wikipedia.org], this is the reason Putin doesn't travel much outside Russia lately.

Re:

[christoban]

Nice. Also, looks like one orc has already voted me down. LOL

Re:

[christoban]

You joke but...

I'd like to say IAmWaySmarterThanYou not commit suicide by injecting himself with polonium, either.

We ought to GoFundMe a dosimeter for GK

[sinkskinkshrieks]

And he needs to watch out for Novichok.

Re:

[Bob_Who]

And he needs to watch out for Novichok.

I swear I keep thinking you're naming a gnarly hockey player...

terrorist chess players, oh no, we're doomed!

[rapjr]

What will we do?

Poor Russians

[butt0nm4n]

They have consistently poor luck with their leaders. Mother Russia appears cruellest of all to her own children. I wonder if Russians like it hard and miserable, and whether they believe being nice and comfortable would make them weak or something?

Russians, you really don't have to worry about us invading, we don't want to live in your country, I don't believe you do either.

Re:

[RUs1729]

They have consistently poor luck with their leaders. Mother Russia appears cruellest of all to her own children.

Political leaders are not ET's - they are people, like everybody else. Countries tend to have the leaders and government that their citizens want and deserve. This is as true of Russia as it is of everywhere else. The Russian culture has always been impervious to modern concepts of democracy, freedom of thought and social justice, and things do not seem likely to change in that respect in the foreseeable future.

Re:

[butt0nm4n]

Your assumption is "Countries tend to have the leaders and government that their citizens want and deserve." Let's assume you mean a country is all the people that live there. Let's say the country is a democracy, with a right and left, like the US. At any one time roughly 50% of an electorate get a government they vote for, that once elected rarely achieves it's manifesto. I doubt the 50% got the government sold to them. And the electorate is not the whole country, only those who can vote.

If it's not a dem

Extra, Extra!

[Plumpaquatsch]

Vladimir Putin has just been assassinated in absentia!

Huh?

[MonkeyProgrammer]

How do you arrest someone in absentia?

By definition "arrest" means to take someone into custody. Did they make life-size cardboard cutouts and arrest those?

Or, is this just another aspect of Putin's fantastical thinking: that you can "arrest" someone with your mind? Did they also crush his head [i.cbc.ca]?

Hey Putin

[GrahamJ]

DIAF