Alexei Navalny’s speech at a rally in Moscow in support of Telegram
Text version
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Hi, this is Navalny.
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Hello, digital resistance.
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>> Thank you, Pavel Durov, for calling this
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resistance.
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Because resistance
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is when you do something, when you
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don’t stay silent, when you feel that
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you’re being crushed. And you don’t just lie on the ground
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or sit back in an armchair,
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>> you resist. Ready
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to resist.
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>> One phrase
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keeps ringing in my head constantly,
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when I see what is happening in our
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country, when I hear what is happening in
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our country. Every day from morning till
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night, you turn on the TV, watch
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the news, and this phrase is in my head.
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>> That’s actually the second phrase too,
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but the first phrase in my head is:
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"I will not put up with this.
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I will not silently put up with this." I turn on
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the TV, and I hear the news that
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some guys with huge, bloated
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faces have suddenly decided that
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they ought to have the right to read everything I
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write on Telegram. That is their official
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position. We are the authorities, these
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buses are guarding us. So we have the right
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to read everything you write. Will you put up with
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that? No,
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>> I will not put up with this.
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>> There are people I don’t know at all.
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But I read in the news that someone
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somewhere was jailed
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for a like.
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I don’t know him. I don’t know what he
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wrote. I will never see his crying
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relatives in court. I will never
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cross paths with that person. But I sit
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in my apartment, perfectly free. And I
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say: "I will not put up with this."
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>> Will you put up with this? No.
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>> We live in Moscow.
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A rich city, supposedly, right?
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>> Yes.
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>> But I know that our country is living in poverty.
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A genuinely poor country, one in which
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no one has any prospects. The only
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sector that has developed in recent
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years on its own, without the state, without
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subsidies, without transfers, without special breaks, is
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the internet. Right?
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>> And these people say: "You on your
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internet
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>> are misbehaving, so we’re going to devour your
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internet."
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I will not put up with this.
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>> I will not put up with this. Will you
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put up with it?
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>> No.
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Against this backdrop of sheer chaos and poverty,
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>> the incomes of government officials over a year,
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in one year, rose by 128%.
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Why?
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I can’t even repeat it.
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They steal. They are thieves. They are crooks and
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>> thieves.
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>> Crooks and
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>> thieves. Crooks and
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>> I am not prepared to tolerate my beloved
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country being ruled by crooks and thieves. That is why
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I will resist.
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So we will resist, right?
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>> Every day, you wake up,
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wash up, have breakfast—or even before
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breakfast—
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sit down and think about what I can do
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today
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to make things worse for this government and better for
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the people. Agreed? Yes.
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>> That’s how we must act every day. Do
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something to make things worse for them,
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and better for the people. Do something to
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leave this—no, weaken this government,
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because this is no longer even an authoritarian
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democracy; this is a monarchy.
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Right? Yes. They have seized all power,
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their children have seized all power, their grandchildren
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are everywhere. This is a hereditary monarchy.
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They think their children will rule over
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you. Are you ready to put up with that? No.
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>> I am not ready to put up with this. Not for a second
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will I forget that I am not ready to put up with it. And
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when they tell me on television:
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"I’ll turn it on
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and hear the phrase."
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Alexei,
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you know that right now our country is a
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monarchy, and Russia is ruled by a tsar. And I
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will say straight to the screen: "Help me,
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down with,
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>> down with
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>> the tsar!
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>> Down with
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>> the tsar!
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>> We do not need a tsar.
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>> Down with the tsar!
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Down with the tsar, tsar—
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tsar.
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And at this dramatic moment,
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I would leave the stage, but these men from the police are
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looking at me sternly.
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Because when I was coming in here, and then
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twice more out on the square, they
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came up to me with a piece of paper and a camera and
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said: "Alexei,
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>> under no circumstances, under no conditions,
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must you call on people to come to the rally on May 5."
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>> How could I possibly calm down? Look at them,
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they’ve got epaulettes—see how beautiful they are,
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golden,
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impressive. These are serious police officers.
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So
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I want to ask you first: on May 5,
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are you going to the rally?
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>> Yes.
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>> On May 5? What street will you be on? What is it
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is it called?
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>> Which street?
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>> Which street?
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Don't go,
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>> because if you go, the authorities
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will see that many people are against
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corruption. Don't go. If you go,
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they will see that even despite the ban
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people are coming out against censorship, coming out
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against blockings. Will you go?
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>> I'm trying to persuade them, but they won't listen. Let me
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try one more time.
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Please don't go
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and don't shout: "He Is Not Dimon to You" (a slogan from Alexei Navalny's anti-corruption investigation about Dmitry Medvedev).
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Because what if you say it.
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Well, Putin is right about you. You are
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an uncontrollable and constructive
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opposition.
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Don't go,
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because the tsar doesn't want to see you on the
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street. Will you go?
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>> You will.
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>> May 5, Tverskaya, 14:00. Russia will be
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free. Down with
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the tsar
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>> down with the tsar! down with the tsar!
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down with the tsar!