Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov, writing on Aug. 17 on Telegram, according to RT, said that freedom of speech in the U.S. is only permitted for those who express pro-American views, while dissenters are subjected to a “political inquisition.” He pointed to the FBI raids on the U.S. homes of Dimitri Simes and Scott Ritter. “Hundreds of people are declared undesirable just because they dare to contradict the policies of the administration. They are forbidden from having their own point of view” and government agents are “breaking into homes, performing searches and seizing documents,” Antonov stated. He added that the situation in the country resembles the “dark times of McCarthyism,” in the 1950s
“The local ruling circles have decisively embarked on the path of total censorship. Freedom of speech in modern America is sacred only if this speech is pro-American. All dissidents are subject to political inquisition, especially when it comes to those who fight against one-sided and biased views on Russia,” he said, pointing to the irony that Washington continues to “lecture the whole world on democratic values and human rights.”
