Tea as a bad omen

In the Krasnodar Territory, by a court decision, members of the charitable organization "Froda" were convicted of an "unauthorized" tea party with two German students, citing the new law on rallies. Nine members of the charity Froda, which defends the rights of ethnic minorities, were found guilty of holding an illegal meeting and fined after agreeing to chat over a cup of tea with two German students visiting a friend in Novorossiysk. The Western press immediately, and quite rightly, started talking about how Russia was returning to the Stalinist method.