Sunday, January 11, 2009

Oh, I suppose I need to talk about it.

So the Estonian courts have found Klenski, Linter, Reva and Sirõk not guilty of organizing the April riots.

Good riddance.

A lot of public figures, as well as pro-Estonian commenters, have called it a travesty and voiced their disappointment quite loudly. It was, they said, necessary to punish these four, to send a message that this kind of activity would not be tolerated.

In truth, it will be, and the country will be all the healthier for it. Those responsible for the damage and destruction - the local equivalent of white trash - have long since gotten their convictions and minor sentences. Some of them, who imagined themselves political figureheads in the making, tried to appeal and go all the way to Brussels, where nobody cared to listen to them. Which is as it ought to be.

As for these four, they are only of any interest to anyone as martyrs. There is nothing we (and I mean we as a society) could have done to destroy and humiliate them more than to provide a well-reasoned and impartial judiciary ruling of their utter irrelevance. They were on trial for organizing the most politically significant action to ever be carried out by Estonia's Russian community, or indeed by any opposition fraction whatsoever. And the court found them not credibly competent enough to have pulled it off.

We can afford to be magnanimous. We have nothing to gain from putting these men in jail. But we have certainly gained a lot from releasing them.

I do not make a habit of feeding the trolls outside a controlled environment, but observing them in the wild produces valuable insight. The court ruling produced a stunned reaction in the most hysterical corners of the Russian Internet. Oh, they still played their roles, but even those who kept regurgitating accusations of fascism on autopilot could not help but remark that such insolence against authority would never be so tolerated in the Motherland. The cognitive dissonance incurred by witnessing an application of impartial justice in what they still consider part of their mindscape was much-needed, though rare.

Of course, for the desired effect to be attained, all parties involved had to stick to their script. The fury and indignation of the coalition ensured that the court's ruling carried the necessary force. Still, I wish our politicians spent more time thinking about what they say.

9 comments:

Giustino said...

Does Linter even have a job?

antyx said...

I neither know nor care.

Karla said...

I agree. A serendipitous outcome after all the fuss and feathers. The dogs bark and the caravan moves on.

Alex said...

If someone brought up the names Linter or Klenski and it wasn't in the context of the Bronze Statue, I wouldn't know who the hell they were talking about.

stockholm slender said...

Sounds like quite a satisfactory solution. These people are pathetic and irrelevant, so it's good not to inflate their absurd sense of self-importance.

Ain Kendra said...

But somehow I hope, that one day court will find a target who will finaly receive invoice for all the damage done in Tallinn.
I hope. Otherwise all the justice system has to be replaced.

Ain Kendra said...

And more - today's news tell of Sirõk. In Moscow, Sirõk confirmed the membership in Nochnoi Pozor, since 2006. But court just considered this statement as a tell-tale.
So court has to be awarded the 'Vanaema muinasjutud' award.
All the basis of the court decision is falling down. What's next?

antyx said...

"Otherwise all the justice system has to be replaced."

Bullshit. The job of the justice system is to determine guilt or innocence impartially.

Giustino said...

Maybe Sirõk will find a nice Nashi gal in Russia and settle down to make babies for the fatherland.

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