Why is Putin getting a pass from many?

[Whisp]

113. Here:

Perhaps it was no more than being naive, but to list Putin's Russia, as Snowden did, among his little list of countries for "being the first to stand against human rights violations" suggests a dangerous moral relativism.

Far from being a champion, Russia's record on human rights violations is a grim one. Snowden's meeting with human rights groups in Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport was preceded by another piece of human rights news – the posthumous conviction of whisteblower Sergei Magnitsky, who was tortured in a Russian prison and denied medical attention that might have saved his life.

Amnesty, whose representative was at the Snowden meeting, had earlier announced the latest murder of a journalist in Russia, Akhmednabi Akhmednabiev, who was killed by an unknown gunman in the North Caucasus region after his name appeared on a death list.

There have been other recent reminders of what happens to those who criticise the Kremlin and Putin. Two members of the punk band Pussy Riot remain in jail. Indeed, yesterday – almost unremarked – it was reported that Maria Alyokhina, one of the two imprisoned musicians, was being transferred from the labour camp in the Perm region, where she has been serving two years for hooliganism for performing a song, to another prison in central Russia.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jul/13/edward-snowden-anna-politkovskaya

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''Yet even in the face of this historically disproportionate aggression, countries around the world have offered support and asylum. These nations, including Russia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua, and Ecuador have my gratitude and respect for being the first to stand against human rights violations carried out by the powerful rather than the powerless. By refusing to compromise their principles in the face of intimidation, they have earned the respect of the world. It is my intention to travel to each of these countries to extend my personal thanks to their people and leaders.''

His whole speech here:
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/edward-snowden-asylum-statement-human-rights-groups-un-venezuela-russia-moscow-airport-2013-7#ixzz2uqHYZplD

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I can already sense an argument that he didn't Really Mean What He Said, He Meant.... blah bah blank blankety blank.