Irkutsk branch of Yabloko commemorates victims of the Great Terror
Press release, 1.11.2018
The Irkutsk branch of Yabloko participated in series of one-person pickets to commemorates the victims of the Great Terror.
“Unfortunately, no proper estimate of the Soviet reprisals have been made. This is why we demand that the archives of the Federal Security Service on the victims of political reprisals be made public. We also insist that Russia needs a law forbidding the glorification of Joseph Stalin,” Grigory Gribenko, Chair of the Irkutsk branch of Yabloko, said.
After the action Yabloko activists visited a graveyard where over 20,000 victims of political reprisals, who were executed in 1937-1939, are buried.
Yabloko took part in the Returning the Names memorial action across Russia. Grigory Yavlinsky, Chair of Yabloko Federal Political Committee, said that Russia’s current political system could easily turn towards the developments of the 1930s. “The current political system – taking its logic, methods and approaches into account – is the direct heir of the regime of terror and is a step away from becoming a political mechanism of terror itself.”
According to Yabloko Chair Emilia Slabunova, “if society preserves memories of the developments of the 1920-1930s, a similar scenario will be prevented”. She also said that the government must make a legal and political estimate of Stalin’s crimes.
Grigory Gribenko
Posted: November 6th, 2018 under Human Rights, Overcoming Stalin's Legacy.