Press Release, 13.08.2021

Photo: the farewell ceremony / Photo from Nikolai Rybakov’s FB page

On 13 August, the farewell ceremony for Sergei Kovalev, a legendary human rights activist and a member of the Yabloko party, took place in the Sakharov Centre in Moscow.

Yabloko Chairman Nikolai Rybakov, members of the Yabloko Federal Political Committee Grigory Yavlinsky, Boris Misnik, Viktor Sheinis, Valery Borshyov and Lev Shlosberg, members of the Federal Bureau Maxim Kruglov and Grigory Grishin, Viktor Kogan-Yasny, Adviser to the Chairman of the Federal Political Committee and other took part in the ceremony.

Nikolai Rybakov, Yabloko Chairman:

– It is a huge responsibility and honour to speak at such a tragic event not on my own behalf, but on behalf of dozens of thousands of people who have been proud and are proud that Sergei Adamovich Kovalev was a member of our party for 15 years and a member of the Political Committee of the party, and determined the policies of Yabloko in our country.

Two months ago Sergei Adamovich Kovelev launched an online conference dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Andrei Sakharov. He said then that Andrei Sakharov had two important qualities: a conscience and a mind. And it is precisely these qualities that Russian politicians  and modern politics are lacking now. And Sergei Kovalev had these qualities. Such people are in demand now.

People like Sergei Kovalev shine and give hope that times in our country will change. They teach us that you should never, whatever the circumstances maybe, betray yourself and your ideals. Sergei Adamovich Kovalev was and will be the person on whose actions, ideas and beliefs will guide my and the following generations in politics.

Grigory Yavlinsky, Chairman of the Federal Political Committee of the Yabloko party:

– Sergei Adamovich Kovalev was the most outstanding and incredible politician of the Russian Federation and will remain such forever. He was in fact the most honest, most sincere [politician], that is, the kind of politician who does not exist. But he was like that.

Sergei Adamovich also understood one simple thing that no one understands: in a country where there is no separation of powers, there is no right, and since there is no right, it means that it is impossible to be a human rights defender, but you need to be a politician so that this right could triumpoh in the country some day.

Unlike the absolute majority of his friends, not only did he understood this, but acted this way. 15 years ago Sergei Adamovich became a member of a political party [our party Yabloko] for the first time in his life. For us, this is the highest mark, it is incomparable with any success in any election.

Sergei Adamovich was a man who always said what he thought, and only he did it in politics and almost no one else.

For me personally, every discussion with Sergei Adamovich, every handshake was a great honour, every word he said, I wanted to listen and understand. I have never met in my life anyone comparable with him in this respect.

Photo: Ivan Kovalev, son of Sergei Kovalev