Alexei Navalny’s speech at a rally on Sakharov Avenue in Moscow in 2012
Text version
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Hello.
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I want to begin my speech with
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applause in solidarity with and support for
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all those people who were arrested in connection with
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the May 6 case. Let's support them all.
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These people are in prison for our right to gather
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here. They are hostages, seized so that
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we would stop coming together. Let them
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know that as long as they are in prison, we
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are not free either. As long as they are in a cage, we are in
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a cage too, and we will never forget them.
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And as for those who locked them up, we will not
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forget them either. Let's add one more word.
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Which one?
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We will not forget, we will not forgive—let them know that.
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Look at this strange thing
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that is happening.
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We keep gathering,
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there are more and more of us—or at least
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not any fewer.
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Every one of our rallies looks like a military
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operation. And we can see that this whole
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regime, this whole disgusting giant toad,
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is simply afraid of our
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rallies and trembles because of them. And yet dozens of people
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are still being thrown into prison.
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We can see that the chief crook now has to
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dress up as a crane,
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to distract attention from how much he
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and his gang stole while putting on
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the summit in Vladivostok.
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But even so
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the party of crooks and thieves still
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has enough strength to throw out of the State Duma
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a deputy whom we elected, whom
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the people of Moscow elected. Two hundred thousand people
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voted for Gudkov, and 300 United Russia thugs
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threw him out.
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Why is that?
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What we lack is
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personal fury in this struggle. We need
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to understand that every person on the other
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side knows that if he loses, he will
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lose
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a million dollars.
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If we win, they will lose
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another yacht or a house for a mistress on the
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French Riviera.
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They understand that our victory
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will stop them from placing their children in
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state corporations and state banks.
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And we seem to be fighting for some kind of
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abstract things. Just some kind of
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freedom,
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some kind of equality.
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Just some kind of human
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dignity.
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You can't exactly put that in your pocket.
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But we must treat these as
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absolutely concrete things without which
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we cannot live. We cannot live without
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freedom.
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We do not want a life without human
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dignity.
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We will never give that up.
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This is our personal struggle.
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Destroying corruption means money
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for each of us; it means prosperity
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for the country.
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Equality means equal opportunities
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for all children, not just for the children
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of the Kremlin elite.
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This is our personal struggle.
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I very often hear: "So what, are we supposed to
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go to rallies like it's our job? And what
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will that achieve?"
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Yes, we are.
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We go to work
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to support our families. And we
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must go to rallies
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in order to secure freedom for ourselves
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and our children,
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in order to secure for ourselves
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human dignity. We will go
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as if it were our job. It must become part of
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our lives.
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Yes, it feels good to come to a rally when
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you see a sea of people.
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But each of us must tell ourselves
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that yes, this regime will most likely fall in
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the foreseeable future—but even if that does not
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happen,
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even if it lasts for years, and even if
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Putin's head is finally sewn onto the body of a
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bat, we will still
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keep coming here.
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Even if you are left alone, you will still
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come and stand here. But I believe that I will not
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be left alone. I believe that not one of us,
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no one, not a single one of us, will be left alone.
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We will come together.
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We will come.
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There are no other people who
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will help us. Are there people living
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somewhere far away who will come and solve
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our problems for us?
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Are there people who will overthrow Putin
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while we sit at home eating jam?
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No one will bring us deliverance except
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ourselves.
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I want each of us, when looking
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in the mirror in the morning, to ask ourselves: "What
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am I ready to do today
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for freedom and for defending my
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human dignity?"
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There is a lot that can be done,
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for example, shoot down that helicopter. Just kidding.
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Each of us can do a great deal.
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You can come to a rally,
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you can donate 200 rubles in support of
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political prisoners.
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You can support projects such as
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RosPil and RosYama. You can donate
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money to Chirikova's election campaign. You can
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go to Khimki and campaign for her there.
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You can hand out leaflets through the good
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machine of truth. Each of us can
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do something every day. I see here
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the political force that can
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win. But only if each of us works
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every day,
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there are no other people besides us.
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Only us, and no one else.
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Hope and perseverance
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will bring us victory. We believe in it. Yes.
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Do we believe in victory or not? Yes. Yes.
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Will we show up or not? Yes.
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Will we make sure people are released
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from prison?
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Yes.
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Victory will be ours. We are persistent. We
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believe. We are better than these crooks and thieves. We
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believe in morality. We believe in truth. We
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believe in victory. One for all and all.
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One for all. All for.
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One for all.
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We are together.
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Allah