Putin deflects reporter's question about dead and jailed political opponents

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a press conference on Wednesday following a meeting with President Biden in Geneva. A reporter pressed Putin to answer a question about dead and jailed political opponents, but Putin dismissed the inquiry and instead focused on the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Video transcript

- You didn't answer my question, sir. If all of your political opponents are dead, in prison, poison, doesn't that send a message that you do not want a fair political fight?

INTERPRETER: All right. About my opponents being jailed or imprisoned. People went into US Congress with political demands. 400 people are now facing criminal charges. They are facing prison terms of up to 20 or maybe 25 years. They are called homegrown terrorists. They are being accused of many other things. 70 people were arrested right there on the spot, 30 of them are still arrested. On what grounds? Not quite clear.

I mean, none of the official authorities from the states are informing us about it so we don't know that. One of the participants, a woman, was shot dead on the spot. She was not threatening with arms or anything. Why am I bringing this up? Many people are facing the same things as we do and I am stressing this we are sympathizing with the United States. But we do not want the same thing repeating here.