Grigory Yavlinsky’s web-site, 14.09.2020

Danil Beglets, Kirill Zhukov, Yevgeny Kovalenko, Konstantin Kotov, Yegor Lesnykh, Eduard Malyshevsky, Maxim Martintsov, Ivan Podkopayev and Sergei Surovtsev. All of these people were sent to jail because they dared to speak out against the authorities’ criminal election fraud and because they were courageous enough to protest openly in the streets.

This is not Belarus against Lukashenko. This is Russia against lies and deception. And these are Russian political prisoners who received real prison terms a year ago for taking part in peaceful protests [in Moscow] against fraudulent elections to the Moscow City Duma, because they, unarmed, did not resist the unprovoked use of force by the police. Someone was jailed for tugging at the hand of a police officer who was beating a woman, someone for “hurting” a fully equipped Russian Guard, and someone for taking part in a single picket.

These people defended the right of citizens to freedom of choice, freedom of expression and our right to respect. On a long and very difficult path forward to re-founding Russia (read The Day After, August 2020), the first steps should be to support political prisoners, to fight for their release… Their freedom is our freedom.

A year later, the prisoners of the Delo 212 case (the so-called “Moscow riots case”) and their families still need our help, including legal and material aid. You can help here.

Source

Grigory Yavlinsky

is Chairman of the Federal Political Committee of the Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO, Vice President of Liberal International, PhD in Economics, Professor of the National Research University Higher School of Economics.