Alexei Navalny’s speech at the “Let Them Go!” rally in Moscow

Hello, everyone.

I want

to start by talking about the black caps.

You know, when you were a kid, you had

a ski cap, and sometimes they’d pull it

down over your head so you couldn’t see anything.

And now that has become the symbol of this whole regime.

They’ve been in power for 20 years. And the symbol

of all of it has become the same kind of cap,

except they’ve cut holes in it for

the eyes.

When we had

the last search, people wearing

those kinds of caps came running in, and I can see that the idea

is that this is supposed to be a symbol of horror,

a symbol of terror. There they are, all standing there,

smiling—our Center E officers and FSB officers (Russia’s security services),

all wearing these caps, running around,

and they think we’re afraid. Are you afraid

of that? No.

>> I was walking down the corridor too, and coming toward me were

people in black caps. And I suppose

the thought is supposed to be: "My God,

an arrest,

a search, what a nightmare."

But the thought is actually: "Good Lord, what kind of perverts

have shown up in our office?"

What is this, some kind of role-play? What

is going on?"

The only thing missing

to go with these caps is leather hats

".

What I want to say is that all these caps and

masks—these ridiculous masks—are

not a symbol of horror and terror; they are a symbol

of cowardice.

They’re afraid of us,

so they hide their faces. For several years now they’ve been telling us

not to come to rallies.

We’re filming you with some magical

system, and all your faces will be

recorded.

Go ahead and record them, for God’s sake.

Who’s afraid here?

Are you afraid?

>> Film our faces. But here’s a question for you:

what are you afraid of?

If everything you do is so lawful,

then why does the judge forbid anyone from filming him?

Please, let him be proud of it.

Let him go and post on Facebook

saying, "Guys, I went to law school, and

today is the crowning achievement of my career. Someone stood

with a piece of cardboard four times, and I gave him 4

years. And all his friends will write to him:

"Well done,

good for you! We’re proud of you." But he doesn’t

do that, does he?

Guys,

if you’re so tough and so fearless, and if

84% are behind you,

if your Putin really has 84% support,

then take off your caps and film yourselves right there

as you beat this young woman,

record it, post it on social media,

be proud of what you’re doing. And let your

friends write: "Kolyan, what a hero, the way

you hit her. You really

defended the country well. Good job, Kolyan, bravo."

All that time in the gym with you wasn’t for nothing.

po

>> I’m not going to chant that with you, but

right now, unfortunately,

they understand that everyone has reason

to talk that way, and that’s exactly why they put on their black

caps—because even

their friends and former classmates

would write to them: "You idiot, Kolyan,

who are you beating people for? For

Rotenberg (a wealthy Putin ally).

Who are you jailing people for? Because

they raised my retirement age?"

And the whole country is saying that. That’s why they

hide their faces, and they will keep hiding their

faces forever. And here

we need to arrive at an important understanding.

Our rally today is called

"Let Them Go."

A few people have been released, but far

more are still behind bars. Why did they release

the ones they released? Because they have

a conscience.

>> Because they’re ashamed. No,

>> because they have children.

>> No,

>> they released them

because they’re afraid their

approval ratings will fall. Because right now there are no people in

the country who support, excuse me,

this bullshit where people are beaten. Because

in reality, every person,

whether they’re standing at this rally or not interested

in politics at all, understands

that under the black cap, if you take it off,

there’ll be some Kolyan or Semyon Semyonovich

Gorbunkov (a comically ordinary Soviet everyman). If you rip off the cap, whose

fresh, handsome face after a recent

facelift will we see?

>> Who is jailing people?

Who is jailing people in order to steal?

>> Who is jailing people in order to make his

former classmates, university friends, and

colleagues into billionaires?

>> And everyone understands this. Putin and his whole

gang know perfectly well

that if we don’t stay silent about it, and if people keep talking

about everyone from Kotov to the Yakut shaman

(a reference to a well-known protest figure from Yakutia), then their ratings will sink

into the dust. Nobody likes this. Nobody

feels happy about

innocent people being jailed, except him—except

for a small group of people around him.

And you and I must believe in our own strength.

This isn’t just some rhetorical

exclamation. If we gather, every day

they will release more people, because there are many of us and we are

stronger.

You, you, all of us together.

A month ago, they destroyed the United Russia party.

Russia in Moscow.

We did it. In Moscow, people came out to vote

and in greater numbers

voted for the opposition rather than for

United Russia. Hooray to you! Hooray! For the first time in

many years, we can say: on

their rigged elections, we

outvoted them, and we will also make them

release the political prisoners if there are

enough of us. Everyone has a terrible

weapon in their pocket: a phone. Post on Instagram

every day, post on Twitter every

day. Any conversation with any official

on any subject must begin with the

word what?

Let them go.

Let them go.

Let them go.

Let them go.

>> Let them go.

Let them go.

Let them go.

Let them go.

Yeah,

>> as long as we believe in our own strength, we can

achieve anything. They told us:

"It's impossible to take several seats away from United Russia

We almost took away

their majority." They told us that

it was impossible to break through this propaganda. But

we made it so that even the propagandists

started running around and shouting: "Something is not right there

with the political prisoners, we will achieve

everything in this election, or the next one.

The main thing is not to disperse, not to forget, and

to do something every day. And the moment will come

that moment,

when we will say to them the phrase that

they used to say to the guys who were on

the stage." They once told them, "You have 5 minutes

to get ready," and soon we will tell them: crooks and

thieves.

>> Crooks and thieves,

>> crooks and thieves,

>> they will definitely hear it, and we

will do everything to make sure they

hear it. Thank you to everyone who came.