The imprisonment of Russian dissidents
Yes, stating the truth about the death of Ukrainian children is punishable in Russia by a seven-year sentence.
The subject of the oppression and imprisonment of Russian dissidents under Putin is so immense that I could write many PhD dissertations about it. You may have heard of the famous murders — of Berezovsky, of Nemtsov, Skripal, Litvinenko. You may have heard of Alexey Navalny’s near-fatal poisoning and imprisonment.
Here are just three more names that you have probably not heard about, but really, really should.
Ivan Safronov
Who?
Ivan Safronov is a Russian journalist. His father, also called Ivan, was a Russian journalist, too.
In 2007, Ivan’s father ’fell’ from the fifth floor of the apartment block he had been living in. He had been writing honest articles exposing Russian military affairs. His death was ruled out by the courts as ‘suicide’, but many believe he was murdered by the Russian authorities as punishment for his work.
Some 15 years after his father’s death, Ivan Safronov has just been handed a 22-year jail sentence. He has been charged with treason for journalistic work that is very similar to that of his late father — honest and courageous reporting that dares to cover the murky Russian weapons trade in the midst of the wars.
Safronov’s case is, sadly, one of many. And perhaps he should consider himself lucky to be still alive! But his case is significant because of the record length of the sentence given to him, and also because of the timings. While his criminal proceedings began before the start of the war in Ukraine, their conclusion in Autumn 2022 clearly signifies the overall ‘bolt tightening’ of free speech and journalistic freedom in Russia.
As Safronov’s lawyer, himself now on the run from the FSB, has stated,
“The government has shown that, as punishment for decent, legal journalism, you can go to prison for a long time. And it will have an enormous chilling effect.”
Ilya Yashin
Who?
A Russian politician who was vocal about his views on the war in Ukraine from the very start. His reward for his honesty? Prison sentence of an uncertain length (this seems to be revised on a regular basis by the courts, but to date, he has been held in a Moscow prison since 12th July 2022).
I follow Yashin on social media where he is still occasionally allowed to post (I imagine, via friends on the outside). Somehow, even after several months in prison, he is managing to retain courage and determination. Would you?
Ilya Yashin writing from his prison cell, September 2022 (translation is mine):
“Today, my detention period has been extended by another two months. We did not expect anything else from this basmanic justice system. We had zero illusions.
I continue to be held in the Butyrskaya prison for speaking out publicly against the shameful war unleashed by Putin. The war that brings death, destruction and poverty. The war that is in itself a crime.
Even on the day of my arrest, the investigator told me that “Generally speaking, there are options available.” Pleading guilty and cooperating with the authorities could help reduce the sentence to just house arrest, for example. But having said this, the investigator himself laughed, totally anticipating my reaction to such proposals.
Of course, I will not cooperate with the investigation or beg for concessions. I have paid a heavy price for the right to say what I consider necessary to say. And I’m not going to trade this right for anything.
Prison is not a nice place. Fortress walls, bars, barbed wire create a gloomy, depressing atmosphere. Every day here, I see people with dead eyes, who have been waiting for their sentence for years. But believe me: even within these walls, you can remain a human being if you maintain self-respect and self-esteem.
I look at my judge and my prosecutor. The judgement session is over, and soon they will go home — and the handcuffs will be put on my wrists again. BUT! They are and will remain voluntary prisoners of this cannibalistic system — they will remain its cogs, its functions. And I am and shall remain a free man.
Fear nothing, my friends. I’m right here.”
You can read some unofficial accounts of Yashin’s supporters elsewhere online and on social media. Here’s just one, on Quora, that I thought might be worth highlighting.
Alexei Gorinov
Who?
Alexei Gorinov is a Moscow councillor who — you’ve guessed it — was vocal about his opposition to the war in Ukraine. In July 2022, for this so-called ‘crime’ of free speech, he was tried in court and jailed for seven years.
What was used by the court as evidence for his arrest and imprisonment? A video of an ordinary office meeting at the local council where he worked. In this video, since then uploaded to YouTube, he commented on the futility of voting on a local children’s competition while “Ukrainian children are dying” and stated that he believed that “All efforts of [Russian] civil society should be aimed only at stopping the war and withdrawing Russian troops from the territory of Ukraine.” Then, he suggested a minute of silence for Ukrainians who had been killed in the war.
That’s it. This was his crime, worthy of seven years in prison.
Yes, stating the truth about the death of Ukrainian children is punishable in Russia by a seven-year sentence.
But Gorinov says it much better than I ever could. Here he is, in his own words. I have to confess that I don’t share his optimism for Russia’s future. But nonetheless, I find his speech incredibly powerful.
An ordinary local councillor. If you were one, would you do what he did?
Gorinov’s speech at the end of his trial, July 2022 (translated by me)
“I have always believed that our common past brings us our most important lessons.
My father returned home from WWII, disabled. As did his brother. They were comparatively lucky. But they were performing — and have performed! — their sacred duty of defending their Motherland from an enemy.
I still remember Moscow in the 60s. Full of war veterans — some without arms, some without legs, some blind. There were several of them in our own home. I grew up amongst them.
Survivors of the war were scant at sharing their stories about it. When I grew up, I realised why. Because — war, in itself, as a human activity — whatever synonym you choose to label it with — is absolutely the lowest, absolutely the most hideous and dirty undertaking. It’s an act not worthy of humanity — the humanity on whom evolution and the Universe itself have bestowed the duty to protect and multiply life on this Earth.
I am convinced of this: war is the fastest means of dehumanisation, it is when the line between good and evil becomes blurred. War is always violence and blood, torn bodies and severed limbs. It is always death. I don’t accept it and I repel it.
Our common past has taught me this. And perhaps not just me, either: in the Criminal Code of Russia, Articles 353 and 354 still exist. They bestow severe legal repercussions on the acts of preparation, conduct and propaganda of an aggressive war. And I believe that Russia has exhausted its limit on wars even back in the twentieth century.
However, in our present, there are Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel… Do the names of these towns mean anything to you? Ask around, is there anyone who still does not know what happened there? And don’t say later that you knew nothing.
For five months now, Russia has been conducting hostilities on the territory of a neighbouring state, while shyly calling it a “special military operation.”
We are being promised victory and glory. Why, then, do so many of my fellow citizens feel shame and guilt? Why have so many people left Russia and continue to leave? And why does our country now suddenly have so many enemies?
Maybe there is something wrong with us? Let’s think! At least give us a chance to talk about what’s going on. To exchange opinions. This is, after all, our constitutional right!
So, this is what I did. At a meeting of the municipal council, I expressed my opinion, my personal attitude to the subject we were voting on [in that meeting]. My opinion and my attitude were based on my convictions. And they were supported by the majority of those present!
And now, because of this, I’m in court.
It seems that this is yet another lesson from our past that we have not learnt. Persecution for speaking out, fabricated criminal cases, rushed trials, belated insight, “How could it be, oh, but we didn’t know!”
During the years of Stalinist terror, my grandfather was accused [by the authorities] of inciting the overthrow of the Soviet system, even though he had participated in its creation in the most direct way possible. My grandfather lived to see his rehabilitation* — albeit only half a century later.
I hope my own rehabilitation will take much less time.
But for now, I’m here, in this courtroom.
My criminal case is one of the first, but all over Russia, hundreds of similar cases have been initiated against my fellow citizens who dare to think and talk about what is going on. Because of this, families are being destroyed; young people’s lives are being broken.
And, by speaking here, I am speaking for all of them, those who have not yet stood in front of the courts.
Several phrases uttered by me during that ordinary meeting of the union of councillors, were inspected under a microscope [by the court officials during the trial]. A group of nine investigators was formed, six of whom belonged in the category of “Very Special Cases.” Five of those experts were linguists and psychologists. They dug around in the evidence, trying to find out what really hid behind the words that I had said to my colleagues […]. What was my hidden meaning and what were my clandestine intentions? What really hid behind my choice of language? They produced two expert reviews stretching to 120 pages… In the meantime, Article 29 of the Russian Constitution supposedly guarantees freedom of thought and speech to everyone, as long as it isn’t about the propaganda of hatred, aggression, or supremacy. Everyone is supposed to freely seek, receive, pass on, create and distribute the information by any legal means… The freedom of mass information is supposed to be guaranteed, and censorship is supposed to be prohibited.
During the August Coup of 1991**, I was also a politician. Together with other defenders, I was standing in front of The House of the Government — the Russian “White House”. We were defending our future. Our right to live free, to have freedom of speech, to express our thoughts freely, to gather information and to share it freely with others.
If someone told me back then that thirty years later, I would be in court, persecuted for speaking up, for expressing my opinion — I wouldn’t have believed them. The causes of such a tragic outcome for our society will require careful study and reflection by historians. And it’s not only reflection that will be required, but also conclusions and ways forward. It won’t be easy, but all of us will have to accept that — war is war. We will have to rehabilitate war victims and put war criminals on trial. We will have to restore the good name of our people, of our country.
But for now, I wish sensibleness upon our authorities.
I wish wisdom upon this court.
I wish courage upon those who are about to be hit by this new wave of repressions.
I wish courage to the Ukrainian people.
I wish that perhaps one day, in the future, better Russia, I could become its ambassador in Ukraine.
I wish to everyone who has supported me, close by or at a distance: Do not despair! I am with you!”
[My notes on Gorinov’s speech:
* Gorinov is referring to the process of post-Stalinist rehabilitations given to victims of Stalin’s regime after his death. My own grandfather was granted this, having spent eight years in a GULAG concentration camp for crimes he had not committed.
** Here, he is referring to the failed Communist coup of 1991 which attempted to remove Gorbachev from power, destroy the newly created democracy and reinstate the Communist regime. You can read more about my thoughts on Gorbachev in another post of this blog].
