Russian teacher betrayed by students faces jail for anti-war views

 From Matthew Loh / Business Insider through Yahoo!News:

 

"A Russian teacher is facing a prison sentence, and several others were fined or fired after their students reported them for making anti-war comments, BBC Russia first reported.

Irina Gen, 55, an English teacher in the western Russian city of Penza, was speaking to eighth-grade athletes who complained that they couldn't compete in international sporting events, per the BBC, who spoke with Gen's lawyer. Many sporting bodies, including the International Olympic Committee, banned Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.

Gen was recorded on March 18 telling the schoolgirls that she believed the West's decision was correct. "Until Russia starts behaving in a civilized way, this will go on forever," she said. "We are living in a totalitarian regime. Any dissent is considered a crime."

According to the BBC, she told the students that Russia intended to overthrow another nation's government and that Ukraine is a sovereign state.

The teacher received a call from Russia's federal security service five days later and was told by the authorities that they had received footage of her criticizing Moscow's direction, The Guardian reported.

Gen told The Guardian she had "no idea" she was being recorded. She said she told authorities she was "merely citing respected western outlets like AP and BBC," which she believed were professional and objective.

An excerpt of her conversation with the students was posted to the Russian Telegram channel Baza. Baza reported that the schoolgirls had disagreed with Gen and handed the recording to the law."

 

Reporting any words of disagreement with the party line to the authorities is a tradition in Russia, as it was in Bulgaria during communism. To Westerners, the incident may be reminiscent of the murder of French teacher Samuel Paty by an Islamist over blasphemous cartoons shown in the classroom.