Alexei Navalny’s speech at the rally on Bolotnaya Square in Moscow
Text version
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Come on,
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>> hello, everyone. Happy Easter.
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People usually expect me to say something
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special or start chanting
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a new slogan. I didn't come up with a new slogan today,
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but I did come on stage with
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my wife.
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Yulia,
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or maybe that is the new slogan:
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"Protest together with your wife or with
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your husband—whatever works for you".
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As I understand it, beyond 30 meters (about 98 feet),
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no one can hear anything anyway.
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In fact, it makes no difference.
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It's like the well-known Russian joke about the guy
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who was handing out blank leaflets.
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And when he was asked why the leaflets were
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blank, he said: "Well, everything is already
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clear as it is".
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Just by walking around Moscow today, it becomes
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immediately clear.
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It's clear that something
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huge
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powerful, and frightening to some, has taken to the streets.
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I am part of this huge and frightening force. I
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am not afraid of it. This huge force is the people.
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It is all of us who came out into the
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streets today.
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But someone is afraid.
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Over there, across the river, tiny eyes are watching us
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very closely, bead-like little eyes,
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little twitching noses are sniffing around.
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What could possibly happen?
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Well, sooner or later, something will happen.
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These people
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do, in their own way, love certain things about Russia, about our
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country. They love oil,
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they love gas, they love the huge
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enterprises left over from the Soviet
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Union.
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They love flashing blue lights and special passes.
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They adore all of that. The only thing they don't love
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is the very people
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who have gathered here.
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These people are always wanting something,
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asking for something, demanding something.
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Give them the right to have a voice, and they start talking about
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some kind of self-respect.
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They demand things. They have the nerve
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— the sheer audacity —
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to demand an end to theft and
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corruption.
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You—you have the nerve
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to demand that this enormous country not be run by the Ozero dacha cooperative (a group tied to Putin's inner circle)
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.
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You have the nerve to demand that
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roads be built at a normal price, rather
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than with a 300% kickback.
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You have the nerve
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to demand
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that sports facilities for the
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Olympics be built at the same cost as in
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other countries. Here they cost ten times more.
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What kind of people are you?
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When will all this stop?
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>> I'm asking you, will you ever stop
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or not?
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>> When will you calm down—will you calm down or
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not? No.
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>> Will you submit or not?
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>> No.
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>> Will you forget your sense of
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dignity? No.
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>> Will you forget about the Ozero dacha cooperative?
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No.
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>> Maybe you'll come to love Churov (former head of Russia's Central Election Commission)?
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Maybe you'll vote for United Russia?
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>> Well then, that means I found myself at the right
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time, in the right place, and with the
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right people—with you.
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And together with you, I am afraid of nothing.
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>> Just like you, I have something to lose. And
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I understand what I am fighting for. I am fighting for
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a new future—for my family, for
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my children. And you are fighting for the same thing.
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Just like you, I will never give up and
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I will never leave. A year ago, when I was
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here at this rally, I had zero
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criminal cases against me.
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On September 15, at the rally, I had one
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criminal case. On December 15, at the rally, I had
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four criminal cases.
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Now I have either four or
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six. I've already lost count myself.
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And I don't give a damn. Let there be 124 of them.
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I will still say what I want,
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and I will say what I think. And I think
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you don't want to hear anything from me
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except the truth.
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If I called this party, the ruling
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party, a party of crooks and thieves,
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I will keep doing it, and I don't care about
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the criminal cases.
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>> We will support you.
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Most of the country agrees with us, but
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our task is to make sure that 99% of
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people know that United Russia is the
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party of crooks and thieves.
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>> The party of crooks and
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>> thieves. And if on December 5, at the rally, I
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chanted "Putin is a thief," then I will
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chant it now as well.
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I will say that Putin is
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>> is a thi
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>> Putin
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>> is a thi
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>> Putin
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>> is a thief. We will tell every citizen
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of Russia that power in this country has been seized by
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a man named Putin, who is a thief,
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a corrupt man, a hypocrite, a man devoid of
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any moral qualities.
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We will drive him out, we will throw him out of the
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Kremlin. We do not want him ordering
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us around.
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We will not surrender
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and we will not disperse.
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I have no other country. I have nowhere
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to retreat. There is no other country. There is no other
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Moscow, no other family, no other
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people but you. And I truly need nothing
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except the support
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of my family and your support. I am certain
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that, like me, you will never
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disperse. I congratulate you on the
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holiday, the upcoming holiday
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of Victory, the Great Victory (Victory Day, marking the Soviet victory in World War II). I know that if
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our relatives and our ancestors once
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threw out of the country those who wanted
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to enslave us by force of arms, with tanks and
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aircraft, then our task is at least to ensure
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that we throw out of the country those
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who are trying to enslave us with
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fraudulent ballots, with the help of
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corrupt journalists and with the help of
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crooks and swindlers dressed in
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police uniforms. Happy upcoming
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holiday! We will come out here
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as many times as necessary.
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Russia is our country, and our country
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will be free. Russia will be free.
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>> Russia will be free. Russia will be
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