The sight of an innocent person standing in a courtroom is absolutely unbearable for any decent human being. It is unbearable to watch this parody of justice, where some criminal calling himself an “investigator” reads out: “threw a paper cup in the direction of a police officer,” another criminal calling himself a “prosecutor,” cheeks puffed out, nods: “yes, a serious crime,” and a real thug known as a “judge” declares: “Take him into custody.”
Dangerous criminals are imprisoning innocent people, and this is called “the rule of law.”
Rage at what is happening. Rage at the feeling of one’s own helplessness.
Naturally, social media is flooded with calls to defend these random hostages who are suffering on behalf of all of us. Something has to be done. Campaigns are needed. A plan is needed.
Anyone who writes about this is already a good person. Anyone who stays silent about it is already suspect and will never be able to count on our full trust.
At the same time, it is very important not to behave like the hysterical squirrels from that famous painting, but, while keeping this noble rage alive in our hearts, to remember that until its very end, Putin’s regime will always be tied to the existence of political prisoners. That is now an inseparable feature of it forever. Even if there are no rallies at all and the opposition disappears, the Kremlin will itself organize and finance a group and then jail it. Just look at the “New Greatness” case and the whole sea of such cases in the Caucasus. So we need to act clearly and decisively, but without pointless screaming, and not forget WHAT THESE SPECIFIC PEOPLE ARE REALLY IN PRISON FOR.
The people we are talking about now are not in prison for attending a rally, but for demanding political representation for themselves and for all of us. And Putin throws into prison those who demand that. He cannot jail everyone, but he issues quotas: take five from this rally, and seven from that one. It is very important to keep fighting for the very thing our comrades were thrown into prison for. Without that, there is no defense for them. Without that, we strip their sacrifice of meaning and sink to the level of the discussion the Kremlin wants to impose on us: was it legal to throw a paper cup at a police officer?
No, damn it, let’s discuss how YOU first committed a crime against Bauman Moscow State Technical University student Daniil Konon by declaring the signatures he collected to be fake, and then threw him behind bars because he refused to stay silent.
Let me try to lay out a kind of set of ideas and actions that should be used in this and other campaigns to defend our prisoners.
This plan does not claim to be the only one, or to be complete or all-encompassing. It is simply that I have some experience. A little positive experience and, sadly, much more negative. I myself reliably spend several months a year in a cell. I work with people almost every one of whom has been arrested several times. Our organization — the Anti-Corruption Foundation — is the one Putin and his circle hate most, and it has been working intensely for many years under constant pressure. I am now one of only two people (the other was Golunov) whom you truly managed to get out of prison, and for that I will always be grateful to each and every one of you. And finally, I am the brother of a man whom people tried very hard to save and could not.
So, I want to talk about the overall political framework, the desirable — and most important — developments, and the specific actions that can and should be taken here and now.
The overall political framework.
Why does Putin imprison people?
This is a critically important matter for preserving his regime in the form he wants. The regime is protected by a very thin, partly virtual membrane made up of fear, laziness, and disbelief in success.
The people in the Kremlin understand better than anyone else in the country just how thin that membrane is.
Most people living in the country’s largest cities want broader political rights and basic change: free and fair elections, a fight against corruption, and so on. According to various polls, between 15% and 30% of people say they are ready to take part in protests.
What happens if 3% of the residents of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, and Novosibirsk take to the streets? Just 3% of everyone, or 6% of those who want change, or 10% of those who tell pollsters, “I’m ready to go protest”?
It would be such a huge crowd that it could not be jailed, dispersed, or intimidated. The only thing left to do would be to meet its demands.
It is not that the regime would collapse instantly. But obvious lawlessness would have to stop. Candidates would have to be allowed onto the ballot. People would have to be released from prison. And so on.
And in order to make sure 300,000 people do not come out, people have to be intimidated — the 240,000 watching rallies on livestreams, and especially the 60,000 who are less lazy and have already gone out into the streets.
And the method of intimidation is obvious.
The Romans came to a Gallic village, killed every tenth person, took hostages, and carried them off.
The fascists came to a village and shot five people at random who happened to be there.
The National Guard and the Investigative Committee came to a rally, detained the first 1,500 people they could grab, fined 100 of them, jailed 60 for 10 days, and sent 10 away for a long time.
The criminal case was deliberately fabricated crudely and against random people.
In short, it is an act of terror, just adjusted for the general humanization of things since the time of Nero — or whoever it was that liked carrying out decimations. Check for yourselves; I don’t have Wikipedia at hand.
So Putin imprisons people because it is profitable and helps him rule. The political benefit far outweighs the political cost.
That means we need to make it unprofitable for him to do so — wow, what a political revelation. We need to raise the costs to Putin of arrests, beatings, and especially political prisoners, so that ruling Russia with all this becomes much harder than ruling without it. Right now it is easier for him this way, but it is within our power to change that.
Desirable — and most important — developments.
I will not pretend to be original, my friends: political prisoners need a very large rally held — in the terms of my previous post — in a “bold” format.
That is,
- you jailed innocent people? Then at 6:00 p.m. we go to Manezhnaya Square.
And everyone goes.
Because right now, let’s be honest with ourselves, the dialogue looks like this:
The people: You jailed innocent people! On Saturday we’re going to Tverskaya Street.
Organizers: We submitted an application.
City Hall: Your application has been denied. All the squares in Moscow are occupied by the Jam Festival.
Organizers: Outrageous lawlessness. We are appalled.
City Hall: We warn you about liability.
Organizers: We propose negotiations.
City Hall (eating jam, aside): Ha-ha, that’s what we thought. Fine then, you can have Sakharov Avenue.
Organizers: Outrageous lawlessness. We are appalled. We’ll take Sakharov Avenue if you also give us a march.
City Hall: No, we won’t give you a march, but we will specially provide you with a fake Shenderovich (a reference to writer and commentator Viktor Shenderovich), who will be a co-organizer of your rally and will call you provocateurs if you start demanding what the Constitution says you are entitled to.
Organizers: This is outrageous. Where do we find Shenderovich?
City Hall: Where else? At the Jam Festival, standing by the barrel of strawberry jam.
Organizers, to the people: Folks, hooray! We got a rally approved on Sakharov Avenue and we won’t throw you under the batons! There will be speeches, a line at the metal detectors that you’ll stand in for the entire rally, and a fake Shenderovich.
The people: Damn, fine then.
I’m not showing off here; I’m laughing at myself too. You have no idea how many times I told organizers: ah, screw it, take Sakharov Avenue.
There is nothing terrible about this, and it is not some betrayal of the protest_._ I will repeat what I said here: without mass “bold” rallies, there are no mass “cautious” ones. Without the “cautious” ones, we cannot grasp the scale of our support or inspire new people to join the “bold” ones.
Everything is interconnected. Everything is necessary. Everything is complicated. But from the standpoint of “release them immediately,” such rallies are not enough.
They do not give us a negotiating position. The Kremlin finds it laughable when we demand the release of political prisoners — which means overturning the decisions of the police, the Investigative Committee, the prosecutor’s office, and the courts — while failing even to secure our plainly written right to hold a peaceful rally in the city center with our own organizers rather than imposed stooges.
There are a lot of organizational and technical complications: organizers — because you cannot really do without them anyway. When one person is jailed, it is clear enough, but what do you do when the arrests are spread out over time, as they are now? What about the weather, the season, and so on?
All the same, the point is one and the same. If we want people to be released, then immediately after the arrests we need to go out to a “bold” rally — announce it and go, strictly according to the Constitution — in numbers large enough to show Putin: yes, in this case the costs probably outweigh the benefits.
Defenders within the government and building our own lobby within the government.
Hold out both hands and start counting on your fingers how many representatives of any branch of government have stood up for these unlawfully imprisoned young people.
You bend one finger, remembering Senator Markhayev, and then think for a long time but still cannot remember anyone else.
You tell yourself: the Human Rights Council, maybe... but then you remember that they are not actually the authorities at all, just public figures.
And here I bring you back to why these guys are in prison. They came out for political representation, against the monopoly of United Russia.
How many deputies in the Moscow City Duma are now demanding the release of political prisoners? I heard a statement yesterday on the radio from a Communist Party rally, so that makes four people. Out of 45.
Ninety percent of Moscow’s parliament wants everyone jailed and considers all of us participants in mass riots.
And you and I really CAN make sure that on September 8, with the help of “Smart Voting”, there are far more deputies in the Moscow City Duma whose official position is “Release them.”
And if we try hard enough, they could even be a majority. Then the Moscow City Duma will pass a resolution: release them. And when Sobyanin, or Baranov, head of the Moscow police directorate, or Yegorova, chair of the Moscow City Court, comes there to report, they will be told: release them. And when the issue of appointing magistrate judges comes up, they will be told: release them.
This is not just about Moscow. “Smart Voting” will be operating in more than 20 regions where elections will be held.
In St. Petersburg, we can achieve a situation where many municipal councils adopt “Release them” statements and even hold rallies in their own districts.
The Irkutsk City Duma — where things are currently even more of a trash fire than in Moscow and St. Petersburg — will adopt a “release them” statement.
That same Markhayev will repeat “release them” if he is elected mayor of Ulan-Ude, and “Smart Voting” will help make that happen.
At that point, the costs to the Kremlin of keeping these young people in prison will definitely outweigh the benefits.
You may say to me: Navalny, don’t hold your breath. We’ll elect a hodgepodge of Communists, A Just Russia members, and God knows who else, and tomorrow they’ll be bought off, intimidated, and they’ll betray us and our political prisoners.
That is not just possible — it will definitely happen with some of them. Not all, but some will certainly be bought. There may be different variations of it.
But one thing I know for certain: if we do nothing, then the Moscow City Duma will once again be 85% United Russia, and every one of its deputies, before heading off to their penthouse in Presnya or hotel in Tyrol, will pound the table and shout: LOCK THEM UP! LOCK THEM ALL UP FOR THE MAXIMUM TERM! TO TEACH THEM A LESSON! WE DON’T NEED ANY MAIDANS HERE! (a reference to Ukraine’s Maidan protest movement)
That is definitely not what we want. And the only way to fight it is through “Smart Voting.” Ideally, by still managing to get independent candidates registered — let them on the ballot! — but even if we fail, then it is still only “Smart Voting.” And again, let’s be honest: supporting it will not overwork you. It is simple, easy, and takes almost no time. But it is the most important thing any of us can do in the fight for freedom — for these young people, and more broadly for a country without political prisoners. Register. Bring a few friends with you.
Specific actions that can and should be taken right now.
Dispensing with delicacy, I will say the word right away: money. Political prisoners themselves and their relatives, even when they are desperately in need, will not ask. They will be embarrassed. So there is no need to ask them. Raise it and give it.
Being in prison is expensive. It places an enormous burden on relatives and is a heavy strain on families without much money. And if they are in another city as well, then all the more so.
It is great that Agora provides lawyers free of charge. That removes 70% of the problems. But a Russian jail — a pretrial detention center (SIZO) — is still a Russian jail.
You have to buy cigarettes, pay for phone access, contribute to the communal pot, and so on. There is no need to spell out the obvious details here; let us simply remind everyone of what is well known: life is bleak and joyless for a person behind bars if they are constantly worrying about where their relatives will find a few tens of thousands of rubles for basic necessities.
Let’s interrupt the theory in order to actually help these young people, rather than just talk about it.
Here is the Sberbank card number of ACF director Ivan Zhdanov: 5469 3800 4459 9651
Right now, 13 people have been arrested in the fabricated mass-riot cases of July 27 and August 3. Let’s raise 200,000 rubles for each of them. That comes to 2.6 million rubles.
I am giving 1,000 rubles for each person, or 13,000 rubles total.
Obviously, everyone’s means are different. Give 10 rubles per person and post on your social media with a link to this post: I’m giving this much.
No money? That’s okay. Repost this and write: I can’t right now, but I urge those who can.
There is no need to be embarrassed. “No money” is the permanent condition of 85% of Russian citizens.
It is not shameful to have no money. What is shameful is to “fail to notice” that money is being raised for those who suffered on behalf of everyone.
Different people are in prison now. Some may have resources of their own; if they decline, we will redistribute the money among the others.
If we raise more, we will send it to those imprisoned on similar fabricated charges after the rallies of March 26 and June 12.
In short: more action, fewer words. Let’s try to make sure that by Wednesday, ACF lawyers are already handing the money over to the relatives designated by the detainees themselves through Agora’s lawyers.
And do not forget, by the way, that those who were fined also need money. There is a fundraiser here.
A big rally is great, but a rally or picket of any size is also very good — especially when there is no big one. There is nothing to debate here. We should try to attend events of this kind whenever they happen.
It is important to turn every detainee into a kind of public figure. Photos, videos, stories. Campaigns like the one we ran for the Bolotnaya defendants (those prosecuted after the 2012 Bolotnaya Square protest in Moscow). Pick a political prisoner and tell everyone about them. Put up their photo.
The role of actual celebrities is very important. Oxxxymiron, for example, is doing everything right. If there is a well-known person among your acquaintances, persuade them to say something publicly and mention a couple of names.
I am convinced that there is enormous, as yet completely untapped potential in student solidarity. The first steps are being taken by students and faculty at HSE (the Higher School of Economics) — good for them — but that is only 1% of what is possible.
Those arrested are mostly young people. I do not know about all of them, but at the very least there are HSE student Yegor Zhukov and Bauman University student Daniil Konon.
The circumstances and reasons for the arrests, as well as the behavior of the police, cannot help but infuriate any normal person.
At the very least, at HSE and Bauman University, initiative groups should be created and, with the work divided up, they should methodically speak to EVERY student. Explain what happened, ask them to sign in support, invite them to a rally. And simply produce a huge register showing who is for it and who is against.
I am sure that after classes on the first day back from break, students at HSE and Bauman University should hold an evening gathering and discuss the situation.
There is absolutely no need to declare a rally or protest action right away. Probably not, in fact. I would not advise holding a rally. Without preparation it will turn into a mess. Better something like an assembly of delegates. It does not have to be in the street; people could gather right in one of the universities. HSE’s administration is liberal, judging by its statements, and should support an initiative coming from below.
A venue can be found. Gather, discuss, adopt a resolution and a plan of action. Then it would be possible to announce a rally and invite students from all educational institutions in Moscow.
That is the minimum program.
The maximum program would be to carry out this kind of survey-and-information campaign in every educational institution in the country, from universities to schools to vocational colleges. So that the Kremlin knows: everyone in Russia aged 16 to 25 is aware that people their own age are in prison simply because they refused to accept being treated as an “invalid signature.”
If you create such an initiative group where you are and need any help, you can contact our штаб in your city.
An overall political strategy is very important. There was none in the Bolotnaya case, and that brought a lot of negative consequences. But I will not write much about that here, because I simply do not know the situation well enough.
If Agora is handling everything, then they can be trusted.
Come to the trial as spectators or as a support group. I have been through this myself many times. When no one comes to your hearing, it is pretty depressing. And this is how it usually works: the courtroom is packed for the first couple of hearings. There are also lots of people for the verdict. But in the middle of the trial, it is empty.
Letters. They are easy and simple to send through FSIN-letter. The best way to prove to a prisoner that they have not been forgotten.
The seventh point is about money again, sorry. Agora, Mediazona, OVD-Info, and others will not be able to work unless we toss them some hard cash. That is the harsh truth of life. But the upside is that this is the most profitable and reliable investment you can make in your own future and that of your children. These and similar projects are the basic infrastructure of human rights defense. It is a major shared achievement that we have them. We need to preserve and expand them.
Some kind of international efforts or campaigns will most likely also be useful, but I am not a specialist here. We need to ask those who understand the matter to formulate a plan.
You often hear from all sorts of good but naive people about sending prison parcels. As in, let’s start sending packages.
Do not even think of doing that without coordinating it with the detainee or their relatives. There are limits. You might send some useless junk, and then it will be hard to send something actually useful later. And honestly, they are not needed. If you want to send something, send money.
If you still think you have some super-mega-important item that a person in pretrial detention really needs, contact their lawyer in any case.
That’s it.
I understand that I have not discovered America here. But unfortunately there cannot be anything new about this. Bastards and criminals all over the world imprison innocent people in order to stay in the ruler’s chair longer, wear the most gold-braided epaulettes, and rob their fellow citizens without hindrance.
Historical experience shows that good will prevail, but that victory will come as the fruit of solidarity and the daily collective efforts of many people. The more of us there are, the easier it will be.
And I have the same request as before. This post is important, but right now I do not have the ability to discuss it, promote it, or argue about it. I would be grateful if you helped. Praise it. Criticize it. Add to it. But above all, share it and speak your mind.
Thank you.