The powers that be must fear the truth. Journalists were supposed to " Evidence was to destroy criminals like sunlight destroys vampires.. According to this logic, it is only necessary to find evidence to shame those in power and hold them accountable..

Historically, the powers that be tried to censor and hide the facts. The Nazis tried to hide the truth about their atrocities. The Soviet leadership shied away from the humiliation when dissidents passed on information about the conditions in the Gulag to the outside world.. US President Richard Nixon was overthrown after the facts of listening to his political opponents and subsequent concealment of these facts became known..

“But what happens when powerful people stop being afraid of the truth, moreover, they flaunt their disdain for it, as Vladimir Putin does in Russia and Donald Trump in America? Why shame has disappeared and why impunity reigns? We are now powerless and unable to hold those in power accountable.? ” - writes in an article for The Guardian British journalist and writer, professor at the Institute of Global Issues at the London School of Economics Peter Pomerantsev.

He recalls that last week in the United States, Trump again lied " At a CNN television event, journalist Kathy Collins tried to rein him in with evidence and rational arguments..

[see_also ids\u003d"

But he just enjoyed rejecting all truth and logic.. Trump says the presidential election he lost in 2020 was rigged despite there being no evidence for such claims.. Reporter Jean Carroll, who was found guilty of defamation and sexual assault by a civil jury, said she was " When Collins asked him about the classified documents Trump had taken from the White House, he dismissed her as a " An audience in New Hampshire full of Trump fans applauded. Instead of being "

Why do his fans like it so much? First of all, there is great relief after removing the burden of facts, the limitations of grim reality.. Facts are usually unpleasant things, but they are useful for politicians trying to establish some evidence that their big policies are working.. But Trump does not have a stable policy: he can be more right than right, and then turn left when it suits him,” Pomerantsev explains..

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is also a candidate for the leadership of the Republican Party, tried to show that he is more conservative than Trump on issues such as abortion.. In response, Trump began to present himself as more liberal.

He also has no ideals to shame him for betraying.. Instead, he appeals to a sense of pure resentment, where the rejection of all forms of authority and responsibility - the authority of logic, ideals, rational politics, "

However, according to Pomerantsev, in a democratic country like the United States, reality can take revenge.. Trump's rejection of the facts about COVID cost him victory in the 2020 election. More and more lawsuits are brought against him every month.. The most serious of them is for trying to get officials in Georgia to count more votes in his favor in 2020.. Fox News Channel Supports Trump and Deliberately Spreads Conspiracy Theories to Support His Claims of “rigged” Elections. The channel has now paid $787 million to a company it accused of falsifying the voting results..

“Putin has fewer deterrents. Unlike previous warmongering dictators, he does not even try to hide his atrocities and intentions to commit genocide in Ukraine.. Putin and his propagandists speak openly about their desire to destroy Ukrainian identity and sovereignty, about the kidnapping of Ukrainian children and their forced re-education. The Russian army shells maternity hospitals, destroys civilian infrastructure and entire cities. Putin wants to show that he can openly commit mass murders and no one can do anything about it. He wants to open the chasm between truth and justice so that the connection between them is completely severed,” the article says..

[see_also ids\u003d"

But the Russian invasion of Ukraine could also be a turning point: Putin’s “plague” of impunity is beginning to be countered by innovation initiatives large and small..

“Since the beginning of the war, I have been working with journalists and lawyers as part of the Reckoning Project to help “speed up” justice for the atrocities.. Lawyers and journalists don't often work together, but in this case we're on the same side.. Teams of Ukrainian journalists trained in international human rights law gather evidence of atrocities on the ground as victims testify. We then create media content based on this evidence for the court of public opinion while our legal team develops court cases. Usually war crimes cases appear after the end of the conflict, but in this war we have to build them while it lasts,” Pomerantsev writes..

But when thinking about justice, you also need to go beyond old-fashioned war crimes cases where a general or a politician is brought to trial.. While this is certainly important, it can take a long time to wait.. Moreover, some members of the Putin elite are even proud to be accused of atrocities: this demonstrates their loyalty to the leader. Therefore, it is necessary to expand the idea of \u200b\u200b\u200b\u200bhow justice can be achieved..

“One of the most innovative ideas recently expressed comes from Ilona Khmeleva of the Economic Security Council of Ukraine and the British law firm McCue Jury. They propose to create an economic justice tribunal. He will decide how to seize the international assets of the Russian state and its oligarchs and distribute them among the victims of Russian aggression. I would add billions in fines against Western companies and collaborators who continue to support Putin's war machine despite sanctions..

[see_also ids\u003d"

Such a tribunal would provide tangible compensation to the victims and undermine the corrupt global system that Putin has created and whose existence he uses to prove how strong his power is.. Putin's internal propaganda constantly trumpets how many fans he has around the world: from Viktor Orban in Hungary to Donald Trump in the United States. Like, President Joe Biden tried to isolate this "

Polls in Russia show that Russians tend to trust anyone in power. As a recent survey by the Open Minds Institute showed, Russians tend to “believe that the government is right just because it is the government and it has the power.”. If Putin can show that he is strong because of impunity in the world and victory on the battlefield, then he is "

“Defeat him on the battlefield, undermine his system in the courts, and his power to determine reality will be shaken.. Not only the truth leads to justice, but justice also leads to the truth,” emphasizes Pomerantsev..