Very few people know these details of my biography, but one of the first public actions I initiated was a picket outside the Zimbabwean embassy against Mugabe, who had begun a genocide of white farmers.
I immediately remembered it when I saw the morning news that the military is trying to remove Mugabe’s gang from power.
It was an action by the Yabloko party, and I had just taken charge of the group organizing actions and pickets in its Moscow branch.
I remember very well reading an article about it in *Kommersant*, and it made a strong impression on me. At heart, my original reason for going into politics was human rights, so, not afraid of being mocked, I went to Daniil Meshcheryakov, who at the time was responsible for various public actions in the federal Yabloko organization.
“Come on,” I said, “let’s hold an action in defense of white farmers in Zimbabwe—they’re simply being killed there.”
And Meshcheryakov’s main job was at the Moscow Helsinki Group, so he was naturally supportive of any human rights action.
But an action is not just the idea of holding one. You need people and placards. That was the responsibility of Youth Yabloko, which was headed by Yashin. He too was, in essence, a human rights person, and he never had the cynical, sneering attitude toward human rights actions that many opposition figures tend to have.
Ilya gathered people, and they made placards. We filed notice for the picket, and those were the blessed days when rallies and pickets really were held on a notification basis.
Yashin brought two kittens to the action, one black and one white. They symbolized equality.
I remember that, to chants of “Mugabe, stop the genocide,” a black Mercedes carrying the ambassador drove out of the embassy. Apparently, he didn’t want to stay in the building during the picket.
So now I’m writing to Yashin: man, at least find a photo, because otherwise nobody will believe that you and I actually did this.
Found one. And while you’re at it, take a look at the head of the Krasnoselsky municipal council 15 years ago:
And even our press release is still up on the website:
It was a great action. I’m glad my biography includes an episode like this, even if many people may find it comical. We were absolutely right, and the 15 years of Mugabe’s subsequent rule in Zimbabwe were catastrophic. White people were massacred and driven out. The economy collapsed. The country was completely looted, even though it had been one of the most developed regions in Africa.
I very much hope that the insane, corrupt regime of this crazy old man, obsessed with money and power, is finally coming to an end: