Putin opposition ?

[Onkel Neal]

Putin makes Trump look like a sunday school teacher

"[The authorities] think they should create some kind of picture that elections are free and fair in accordance with international standards," said Mikhail Kasyanov, leader of the PARNAS opposition party.
But that picture is not accurate, say critics.
Opposition figures have complained of threats and harassment.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/17/europe...ns-opposition/

Kasyanov, a former prime minister turned vocal critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been targeted repeatedly.


In one incident, caught on camera, he was attacked in a restaurant by two men wielding a cream pie.

In what critics say was another bid to humiliate and discredit the former premier, a secretly-filmed sex tape was also circulated showing the opposition leader in a compromising embrace with a married associate.

And it gets more sinister: One video posted online showed Kasyanov and another opposition figure in the cross-hairs of a sniper's rifle.

The head of the Chechen republic, Ramzan Kadyrov -- a key Putin ally -- said he posted the clip, insisting it was a joke.

But in a country where critics of the Kremlin are routinely murdered, it is no laughing matter.