quote... for those that don't get it, it's not the silly dance or the other stuff that is being punished, it's the political statement.

That's the premise on which this thread was started. It's unlikely that anyone could have failed to get it.

But no one has given any evidence for that premise; it's just accepted a priori by most of the people who've posted here. My posts have pointed out reasons for thinking that it may not be true, and you haven't addressed any of those reasons or even shown that you've read and understood them.

The other two opinions you gave are ones that I agree with, but no one has given any evidence that they apply to this case. Can you give any? So far you've only cited a general condemnation of the state of freedom in Russia, written by a former US official and a Carnegie employee, and it didn't even mention the case being discussed here.