Russian President Vladimir Putin questioned the arrest and trial of former President Trump, calling it a display of corruption.
Putin made the comments Tuesday in a keynote address at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, an annual conference.
“As for the persecution of Trump — for us, in the current environment — it’s good because it shows the rottenness of the American system,” Putin told the Russian audience. “It is a politically motivated persecution of one’s competitor.”
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Former President Trump’s mugshot. (Fulton County Sheriff’s Office)
“And this shows who we are fighting,” the Russian president continued. “As they said in Soviet times: ‘the bestial face of American capitalism.'”
Trump has been charged by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis with one count of violating the Georgia RICO Act, three counts of criminal solicitation, six counts of criminal conspiracy, one count of filing false documents and two counts of making false statements.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all counts.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during the 2023 Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia. President Putin made a three-days visit to Russian far eastern regions. ((Photo by Contributor/Getty Images))
Putin has been known to harass, attack and even kill his political enemies throughout his career and time in office.
While the Russian government refuses to acknowledge its frequent assassination of political enemies, the Kremlin makes little effort to cover its tracks.
Alexei Navalny — one of Putin’s most public and vocal critics — is currently imprisoned in a penal colony east of Moscow for a 30-year stint on what many analysts claim are trumped-up charges.
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Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is seen on a TV screen as he appeared by video link in a Moscow courtroom during his trial. (AP/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Wagner Group mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin — who launched a short-lived coup against Putin earlier this year — was aboard an airplane that exploded in Russian airspace last month.
Putin denied any involvement in the disaster and expressed surprise at the death of his political enemy — but Russian leaders told international authorities that they would not be moving forward with a proposed U.N. investigation into the crash.
For over a decade, the Russian president has utilized Russian spy networks and government operatives to assassinate political opposition, foreign intelligence assets, and critics of his regime.
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Then-President Trump, right, shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G-20. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
Others have been jailed, disappeared from public record, or ostensibly committed suicide under mysterious circumstances.
“With Putin, I have a very good relationship. I mean, I haven’t spoken to him in a long while, but I had a very strong relationship,” Trump said earlier this year when asked how he would end the Russian invasion of Ukraine within 24 hours, as he has stated on numerous occasions.
When asked about the invasion, the former president said of Putin, “He wouldn’t have done it if it were me. He did it after I left.”
