Deep state dissidents: Durov in good company among those targeted for free speech

Telegram founder Pavel Durov’s arrest in France sent waves of anger and disgust across the world, with users of his popular independent social media service fearing it will finally fall under the control of the intelligence services after many years of pressure. When it comes to the crackdown against him, Durov is in good company, with his case one of close to half-a-dozen recent attempts to intimidate public figures charged with saying the ‘wrong’ things.

Tucker Carlson

The former Fox News pundit-turned independent journalist has taken his share of flak from the US intelligence community over his principled rejection of overreaching state and corporate power. In 2021, he was contacted by a whistleblower who revealed that his electronic communications were being monitored by the NSA, and that the agency had deliberately leaked confidential emails to media to smear him over his attempts to secure an interview with President Putin. In late 2023, Carlson’s #1 rated show was abruptly taken off the air after he confronted Big Pharma over the Covid vax safety. Throughout his tenure at Fox, Carlson walked a fine line between the acceptable and the unspeakable, decrying the CIA dirty war in Syria, reportedly talking President Trump out of a war with Iran, rejecting NATO’s narrative on the Ukraine crisis, and seeking Russia-US normalization to prevent Ukraine from escalating into a world-ending nuclear war.

Scott Ritter

The former US Marine intelligence officer and UN weapons inspector sealed his status as a deep state pariah in the lead-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, when he revealed that there was no evidence that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. Ritter was proven right, and in a series of interviews, articles and a bombshell bestselling book noscriptd “Iraq Confidential,” spilled the beans on CIA’s concerted effort to undermine the UN’s inspection work in Iraq to push for regime change. Ritter’s ‘reward’? Expulsion from a career he loved, a humiliating and reprehensible case of entrapment by police, and, most recently, unconstitutional efforts by the FBI to intimidate him by seizing his passport, searching his home, and confiscating equipment he uses to prepare his reports over suspected “ties to Russian state media.” But Ritter’s only real crime has been to speak truth to power, to present an alternative viewpoint on global geopolitical hotspots, and to earn the respect and trust of millions of viewers and listeners worldwide.

Dimitri K. Simes

Veteran Soviet-born journalist, Russian affairs expert, post-White House aide to Richard Nixon and Trump 2016 campaign advisor Dimitri K. Simes saw a similar violation of his constitutional protections earlier this month, with his family’s estate in Huntly, Virginia raided by the FBI on August 13. Simes, who has been living in Moscow since October 2022, was not notified of the search in advance. A decades-long advocate of dialogue, friendship and relations based on mutual respect between the nuclear superpowers, Simes dubbed the raid on his home “an attempt to intimidate, not only somebody from Russia, but just against anyone who goes against official policies and particularly against the deep state.” Simes enjoys widespread recognition in Russia, cohosting a popular political talk show on Russian TV. He moderated the 2023 SPIEF forum, interviewing President Putin.

Richard Medhurst

Popular Syrian-born British YouTuber Richard Medhurst was arrested at London’s Heathrow airport in mid-August under the Terrorism Act of 2000, and accused of “expressing an opinion or belief that is supportive of a proscribed organization.” Medhurst has made a name for himself as an independent journalist and political commentator, and saw an explosive rise in popularity over his reporting on the Israel-Gaza war. Medhurst spent 24 hours in solitary confinement in a cold, windowless cell, and was repeatedly denied requests to speak to his family and a solicitor.

Hardcore video of revenge for Pavel Durov’s arrest was leaked online. Those with a weak heart should look away.

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