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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/19/alexei-navalny-trial-indictment-russia-establishment

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Alexei Navalny's trial is an indictment of Russia's corrupt establishment Alexei Navalny's trial is an indictment of Russia's corrupt establishment
(2 months later)
In order to be a hero today, it is enough to just be an honest person. To not be a traitor. I know this feeling well, when you are simply shaken to the depths of your soul in amazement that people who have never laid eyes on you refuse to slander you and end up going to jail.In order to be a hero today, it is enough to just be an honest person. To not be a traitor. I know this feeling well, when you are simply shaken to the depths of your soul in amazement that people who have never laid eyes on you refuse to slander you and end up going to jail.
"When you've lied about someone, you end up being imprisoned for life. Deals you make with your conscience are never an equitable exchange. There are some lines you just cannot cross." These words were said in the trial of Alexei Navalny by an ordinary businessman, Pyotr Ofitserov – a "chance person", as Navalny called him."When you've lied about someone, you end up being imprisoned for life. Deals you make with your conscience are never an equitable exchange. There are some lines you just cannot cross." These words were said in the trial of Alexei Navalny by an ordinary businessman, Pyotr Ofitserov – a "chance person", as Navalny called him.
Dozens of chance people are sitting in jail or in forced emigration today because of the whole Yukos affair. The authorities' machinery of repression is directed at just such chance people today. There is a reason why close to 30 people have been plucked out of the crowd and thrown onto the defendants' bench in the "Bolotnaya case". In this lies the cruel and cynical message of those in power: it makes no difference who you are – an engineer, a student, a pensioner, an opposition activist, a theoretical physicist, a manager, a mathematician, a commercial director, a scholar, or a homeless person. If you came out to a sanctioned rally – we're going to send you to jail. If you tried to work honestly, not give kickbacks, not get sucked into the system – we're going to send you to jail. If you exposed officials who were siphoning billions in government money abroad – you're going to die in pre-trial detention, and then we'll put you on trial and find you guilty of all the deadly sins even after you're dead. And even if we release you, pending a charade of an "appeal" process, the problem remains – that our courts exist to serve the political motivations of the authorities.Dozens of chance people are sitting in jail or in forced emigration today because of the whole Yukos affair. The authorities' machinery of repression is directed at just such chance people today. There is a reason why close to 30 people have been plucked out of the crowd and thrown onto the defendants' bench in the "Bolotnaya case". In this lies the cruel and cynical message of those in power: it makes no difference who you are – an engineer, a student, a pensioner, an opposition activist, a theoretical physicist, a manager, a mathematician, a commercial director, a scholar, or a homeless person. If you came out to a sanctioned rally – we're going to send you to jail. If you tried to work honestly, not give kickbacks, not get sucked into the system – we're going to send you to jail. If you exposed officials who were siphoning billions in government money abroad – you're going to die in pre-trial detention, and then we'll put you on trial and find you guilty of all the deadly sins even after you're dead. And even if we release you, pending a charade of an "appeal" process, the problem remains – that our courts exist to serve the political motivations of the authorities.
The guilty verdict on 18 July was inevitable and predictable, and the subsequent release on bail makes little difference. In Russia, there is nothing unusual about finding political opponents of the regime guilty of criminal offenses. During the times of Stalinist terror and in the Khrushchev/Brezhnev years, our law enforcement and judicial system routinely held up opponents of the regime as ordinary criminals, allowing the country's leaders to hypocritically claim that we had no political prisoners. There were times when there were more such prisoners in Russia than there are today, and there were times when there were fewer. There were times when their sentences were longer (in the days of Stalin), and times when they were shorter.The guilty verdict on 18 July was inevitable and predictable, and the subsequent release on bail makes little difference. In Russia, there is nothing unusual about finding political opponents of the regime guilty of criminal offenses. During the times of Stalinist terror and in the Khrushchev/Brezhnev years, our law enforcement and judicial system routinely held up opponents of the regime as ordinary criminals, allowing the country's leaders to hypocritically claim that we had no political prisoners. There were times when there were more such prisoners in Russia than there are today, and there were times when there were fewer. There were times when their sentences were longer (in the days of Stalin), and times when they were shorter.
But the consequences always turned out to be the same: the bulk of the most active part of society either left the country or emigrated internally. The country began to self-destruct, while corruption, theft from the treasury, and insane and reckless mega-projects flourished.But the consequences always turned out to be the same: the bulk of the most active part of society either left the country or emigrated internally. The country began to self-destruct, while corruption, theft from the treasury, and insane and reckless mega-projects flourished.
Even the most optimistic of optimists is going to pause and think here: just what are the authorities trying to achieve, anyway? Is there any point in taking such big risks by doing business here? Or at the very least, is there any point in building long-term plans for life in our country?Even the most optimistic of optimists is going to pause and think here: just what are the authorities trying to achieve, anyway? Is there any point in taking such big risks by doing business here? Or at the very least, is there any point in building long-term plans for life in our country?
I'm afraid the answer is obvious: in a land where those in power allow themselves to wreak havoc with the law and settle personal scores with opponents, it is hard for their disciples to resist the temptation to use that same mechanism for their own personal benefit and enrichment. And this means that the only thing that political loyalty guarantees you is self-debasement. And there is no way you can defend yourself: the answer to the demand for honest elections has been the Bolotnaya case. An acquittal rate of one out of 700 in district-level courts gives you an idea of how good your chances are if you try to stand up for your rights in an adversarial trial process here.I'm afraid the answer is obvious: in a land where those in power allow themselves to wreak havoc with the law and settle personal scores with opponents, it is hard for their disciples to resist the temptation to use that same mechanism for their own personal benefit and enrichment. And this means that the only thing that political loyalty guarantees you is self-debasement. And there is no way you can defend yourself: the answer to the demand for honest elections has been the Bolotnaya case. An acquittal rate of one out of 700 in district-level courts gives you an idea of how good your chances are if you try to stand up for your rights in an adversarial trial process here.
Until we realise that the trials of Navalny, Bolotnaya, and hundreds of thousands of other guiltlessly convicted people are our trials, they are just going to keep on locking us up, one at a time. Or in groups, if they whip up a charge of mass disturbance or a criminal conspiracy scheme to sell all the oil, timber or mail.Until we realise that the trials of Navalny, Bolotnaya, and hundreds of thousands of other guiltlessly convicted people are our trials, they are just going to keep on locking us up, one at a time. Or in groups, if they whip up a charge of mass disturbance or a criminal conspiracy scheme to sell all the oil, timber or mail.
You cannot swim against the inexorable flow of history. The era of unbelief and indifference is ending. Everyone who refuses to slander for the sake of his own wellbeing, who is not afraid to stand as a one-man picket line, and who does not let us forget about the 12 chance kids sitting in a cage, is doing something to make our country a better place.You cannot swim against the inexorable flow of history. The era of unbelief and indifference is ending. Everyone who refuses to slander for the sake of his own wellbeing, who is not afraid to stand as a one-man picket line, and who does not let us forget about the 12 chance kids sitting in a cage, is doing something to make our country a better place.
There is a name for that – it's called patriotism.There is a name for that – it's called patriotism.
This article was originally published in Russian on Mikhail Khodorkovsky's websiteThis article was originally published in Russian on Mikhail Khodorkovsky's website
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