Disinfo: Weinstein's conviction resembled a Stalinist show trial

Summary

The trial of Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein resembles Stalinist trials. Everything that happened in America today was like in our long-past history. Two ladies stepped forward with accusations but no evidence. No material evidence, no witnesses, nothing was presented. In the best tradition of Stalinist trials, a media campaign was launched to turn an Oscar-winning victim into a disgusting beast, and reprisal against him had to be inevitable and demonstrative.

Weinstein was subject to physical influence and was forced to chemically lower the level of his male hormone. The intimidation has made a strong man a sick man.

Disproof

This case is in line with the Kremlin's ongoing disinformation efforts to paint the Western countries as morally degenerate, corrupting "traditional" values - in this case, viciously attacking masculinity. There is zero evidence to support the outlandish and baseless claim that Harvey Weinstein was subjected to physical influence and injected with a hormone suppressant.

Harvey Weinstein, the former Hollywood producer whose history of sexual abuse was brought to light through the #MeToo movement, was convicted by a New York jury on 24 February 2020 on two of five charges: a criminal sex act in the first degree and rape in the third degree. The jury of seven men and five women at the New York supreme court took five days to reach their verdict, finding Weinstein guilty of a criminal sex act in the first degree for forcing oral sex on the former Project Runway production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006, and rape in the third degree of an unnamed woman in a New York hotel in 2013. Weinstein was acquitted of three further charges, including the two most serious counts of predatory sexual assault - which carried a possible life sentence - and an alternative count of rape in the first degree. The prosecutors called 27 witnesses over 12 days, with six women testifying against Weinstein. The timeline of the trial is available here. Weinstein's sentencing is scheduled for March 11.

The Stalinist show trials were a campaign of terror carried out through the late 1920s-30s against Soviet citizens deemed enemies of the party. Known as the “Great Terror” or the “Great Purge,” the Soviet secret police arrested millions of people, including government officials, scientists, artists, and writers. Hundreds of thousands were executed or died while in labor camps throughout the country in the purges of 1936-1938.

publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 186
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 01/03/2020
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: US
  • Keywords: Western values, Media, Joseph Stalin
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Disproof

Fear over the coronavirus has indeed affected China's stock markets, but suggesting that the virus has been weaponised by Western states or governments is part of the recurring pro-Kremlin narrative on secret labs and biological weapons. It is also consistent with the narrative that the spread of coronavirus is in the interest of the US to weaken China and Russia economically. Stock markets globally have been impacted by the virus, not just in China. There is no evidence to suggest that the novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV is used as a weapon against other states. Many countries have so far been affected by the new virus. The World Health Organisation is working with global experts to combat the virus. To boost global preparedness, prevention and containment of the virus the EU announced an aid package worth €232 million. US companies are working on a vaccine and an experimental coronavirus vaccine has already been shipped to US government researchers for testing. Read previous disinformation narratives alleging that the Emergence of coronavirus is not accidental and has economic goals, Coronavirus is a US provocation against China, The coronavirus is a biological weapon created by the UK, and A new Chinese coronavirus was likely elaborated in NATO's biolabs.

Disinfo: The coup in Ukraine resulted in destroyed economy

During the last six years, Ukraine has not only rolled back economically, the country managed to lose competence in a number of industries, lost millions of workers, accumulated debts and perhaps even passed the point of no return in the economic sense. Economic catastrophe as a result of a coup and reorientation of the economy to the West is fully confirmed by the whole set of economic indicators.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin narrative to undermine Ukraine's economy. Also consistent with the narrative depicting the 2013-14 protests in Kyiv as a coup d’état orchestrated by the West. There was no coup d’état in Ukraine. The onset of the Euromaidan protests was a spontaneous and endogenous reaction by numerous segments of the Ukrainian population to former President Yanukovych’s sudden withdrawal from the promised Association Agreement with the European Union in November 2013. The protesters’ demands included constitutional reform, a stronger role for parliament, the formation of a government of national unity, an end to corruption, early presidential elections and an end to violence. See the full debunk of this disinformation claim here. Regarding the claim about Ukraine's economy being disastrous, according to the World Bank, the GDP of Ukraine grew by 3.5% in the first half of 2019, compared to 3.3% in 2018. The solid growth was driven by a strong agricultural harvest, as well as sectors dependent on domestic demand, including services (domestic trade, transport, and the financial sector) and construction. In 2019, the GDP of Ukraine was US$130.832 billion. Thirty years ago it was $82.709 billion, an increase of over 50 percent. You can find similar cases of the Kremlin trying to undermine Ukraine's economy here.

Disinfo: Activists claimed hundreds of thousands participating in march in memory of Boris Nemtsov

A march took place in Moscow, gathering those who remember Boris Nemtsov. But that was not all. It was not like a commemorative event from the very beginning. Western media filmed a completely different thing – loud slogans and successful camera angles. How can one doubt in this case that there are tens of thousands? In fact, just over eight thousand people passed the metal detector that stood in front of the starting point of the procession. But opposition activists thought in their own way: “I think we’ll count tonight, you’ll see the act on my Facebook, there should have been two hundred thousand.”

Disproof

The report is ridiculing opposition march in memory of the murdered opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, presenting its participants as people who don't really know what they were there for and what signs they carried. The organizers did not claim they were 200 000. Over 22,000 people rallied for Saturday’s march in a square around 2 kilometres (1.24 miles) from the Kremlin, according to White Counter, a monitoring organization that tallies up participants at rallies using metal detector frames, reports Reuters.