A scene from the film The Term. Alexei Navalny at a police station after being detained at a rally in support of political prisoners
A scene from the famous documentary The Term, showing Alexei together with Ilya Yashin and Sergei Udaltsov at a police station after being detained at a rally in support of political prisoners in October 2012. It was the height of the Bolotnaya case (the criminal prosecution following the 2012 Bolotnaya Square protests), yet the atmosphere at the station is strikingly warm: our protagonists joke, drink tea, and mock another round of absurd police reports. It is vivid testimony to an era when the Russian opposition could still openly, and with a smile, stand up to the emerging machinery of repression right inside police custody.
Text version
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What are you filming?
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I'm filming a lieutenant colonel in the line of duty,
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while he is performing his official duties, in accordance with Article
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8 of the federal law on the police. I have
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every right to do so. He's in uniform. In uniform, with a
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badge, with a badge. He is carrying out official
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duties, he is. And you are currently
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performing official duties.
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Under Article 8 of the federal
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law on the police, I have every right to film you
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while you are carrying out these official
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duties.
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The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation
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issued a ruling in which it
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allowed filming. I have that right.
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What's this, bro?
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Oof. Why's that? Sorry.
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They're not cops to you. They're about to take your camera
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away.
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Gorky's novel The Lower Depths. Unfortunate homeless people, and the Uzbeks are unfortunate too.
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Stability, you know.
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Comrade Colonel, my defense representative is standing there,
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and they won't let him in to see me. They took him away. They won't explain anything to us.
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They didn't explain anything to us either when we were detained or
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here even now. They kept us here
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because we are, well,
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Navalny, Yashin, Udaltsov.
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Of course,
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you've really dragged this out. We want some tea.
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We heated up some tea, but there are no cups. We have
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nothing. Udaltsov is going to eat everything here
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in a minute. He's already gobbled up all the marmalade.
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Please let my defense representative come
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in to see me. She's standing right here.
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I'm not going anywhere. I'm not going anywhere. I am
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the authorized representative of Alexei
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Navalny. I have the right to represent
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his interests. I am his legal representative.
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And here are our own people.
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in an hour
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Come on in with us already.
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Oh.
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Oh, what excellent company we have here. You know,
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they do somehow make sure, after all,
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to gather good people together in one
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room.
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Sergei, please,
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Sergei Stanislavovich, please smile.
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I'll smile at you after the victory of the revolution,
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after the victory of the progressive forces.
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I can only manage half a smile.
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Well, just a little. Bigger?
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Bigger? No, you won't live to see it.
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I'm not going to show you that.
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That's it.
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What?
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Is this yours?
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It's mine.
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Is this yours?
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Yes. I just threw something out of it.
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One poisoned one.
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What, are you squeamish about mine or something?
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I just want my own.
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Malyov called on people to go to the Basmanny Interior Ministry office.
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Why the hell should they stand here for 2 hours
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out in the cold? And then what? Then we'll
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come out and all go home.
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Oh, Ilya,
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hi.
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A very fine day to you.
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Seryozha, greetings. Oh, hi. Hi.
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How is it there? Yeah,
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one second.
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What? So what are they charging him with in the end? Article 20.2.
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They said it's 20.2 for Udaltsov, and also supposedly
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the people walking behind him stepped out onto
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the roadway and, accordingly, they're going to
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charge him under traffic regulations for that.
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Traffic regulations.
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So they stepped onto the road, and he's the one being punished.
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I see.
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Katya,
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please check when I sent the tweet
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saying that I had been detained.
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If it says 3 hours there, then
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hooray, hooray.
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Friends, you can't intimidate us, we will not give up.
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No matter how many times they detain us,
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we will keep fighting for freedom anyway.