In support of this medium, Counting Stars also publishes that image

Russia's threats against a Swiss newspaper for publishing a picture parodying Putin

The attacks on freedom of speech by the Kremlin now extend beyond the borders of the Russian Federation as well.

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A story about memes from the Ukraine war in a Zurich newspaper

On June 25, the Zurich-based Swiss classic liberal newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) published ua story dedicated to the use of memes in the Ukraine war. Among other examples of the use of funny images to represent one side or the other, the NZZ included this tweet from a conservative account, Soylent Smurf, parodying Putin as a clown:

The furious statement of protest from the Russian embassy in Bern

So far nothing out of the ordinary. Other media have published similar stories since the beginning of the Russian invasion on February 24. This is part of freedom of expression. But the Kremlin does not seem to understand what that right means. On July 9, the press service of the Russian embassy in Bern published a statement sent to Eric Guyer, editor of the NZZ, showing its anger at the publication of this image:

"We are extremely outraged by the publication of an offensive cartoon depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin in the July 9th edition of NZZ.

We believe that freedom of expression is in no way compatible with the freedom to spread insults and falsehoods. We are forced to state that your newspaper regularly publishes materials by various authors who brazenly and with impunity spread their hoaxes and curses against the Russian leadership."

The publication of parodies about political leaders is common in a democratic country. It is clear that Russia is not, and that is why its embassy in Bern reacts so vehemently against a simple parody. But the statement raised the tone even more, attacking the editor of the news, Marit Langschwager, and resorting to language that one would not expect from a diplomatic delegation:

"At the same time, the little-known young journalist M. Langschwager “outdone” all her fellow writers, by thinking of accompanying a supposedly naive and enthusiastic essay on the “creative” memes of the Ukrainian troll factory (in fact, boring reprints of stock images on the internet using a graphic editor and flat humor) a caricature of the Russian leader that is beyond reasonable comprehension with references to a clown, the LGBT community, and “war criminals.”"

They try to disguise a tyrant with a diabolical mentality as a Christian

The statement from the Russian embassy also states that Putin "is a deeply religious Orthodox person and advocates the preservation of traditional Christian values in Russian society," criticizing putting the LGBT flag on him. As a Christian I have to contradict this statement: what Russia and Ukraine do (war crimes and crimes against humanity) is radically anti-Christian and typical of a tyrant with a diabolical mentality.

In fact, the Russian embassy takes advantage of its statement to deny these crimes and to accuse Ukraine of committing them, in addition to accusing the Swiss newspaper of not echoing that parallel reality that Russian propaganda tries to promote, and that it imposes on Russia itself through the strictest censorship. Apparently, this dictatorship - it is the name that the Russian regime deserves - is not enough to dictate to the Russian media what they should publish, but now it also wants the Western media to write to its dictation.

The Russian embassy threatens the Swiss media with resorting to "law enforcement"

The most shocking part of the statement from the Russian embassy in Bern comes at the end, in which the Putin regime's diplomatic delegation threatens the NZZ with legal action:

"We reserve the right in connection with this and possible future publications of a defamatory and offensive nature in relation to the highest officials of Russia in its publication to resort to Swiss law enforcement, incl. In relation to the violation of the provisions of art. 173 and 174 of the Swiss Penal Code (dissemination of information that discredits the honor and dignity of third parties, as well as slander).

At the same time, we hope that from now on your editorial team will approach the selection of materials for publication with more care."

Counting Stars shows solidarity with the Swiss media by publishing the parody of Putin

This is already more than any media outlet can tolerate: a terrorist regime threatening a free country media with legal action for publishing a parody of a war criminal. But what has this rabble believed, that the Swiss Police is out to persecute journalists who publish parodies of that scoundrel? Faced with this attack on freedom of expression, Counting Stars shows his support for the Neue Zürcher Zeitung and also publishes the photo of Putin's clown:

If anyone had to be apologized for this image, they would be the true clowns, who have an honest profession and whose goal is to make people laugh. On the contrary, Putin is a criminal hell-bent on invading neighboring countries and massacring civilians, including children. He deserves to be characterized with a balaclava, a garment commonly used by terrorists. And now, gentlemen of Russian diplomacy, you can denounce this website if you want, and I will have the pleasure of cleaning my boots with your complaint.

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Main photo: Mikhail Metzel / Kremlin.

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