'This is a ray of hope': how the Russian-speaking diaspora in the USA supports political prisoners in Russia - ForumDaily
The article has been automatically translated into English by Google Translate from Russian and has not been edited.
Переклад цього матеріалу українською мовою з російської було автоматично здійснено сервісом Google Translate, без подальшого редагування тексту.
Bu məqalə Google Translate servisi vasitəsi ilə avtomatik olaraq rus dilindən azərbaycan dilinə tərcümə olunmuşdur. Bundan sonra mətn redaktə edilməmişdir.

'This is a ray of hope': how the Russian-speaking diaspora in the USA supports political prisoners in Russia

The campaign "Letters to Political Prisoners" has started in the United States - a new project of the Russian-speaking diaspora in the United States, aimed at drawing attention to the problems of human rights in Russia, reports "Voice of America".

Photo: Shutterstock

Everyone is invited to send postcards to Russian political prisoners in order to morally support people persecuted for their political views.

The organizers of the action draw attention to the fact that in today's Russia there are hundreds of political prisoners, and their number grows after each opposition rally.

“According to Memorial's estimates, there are 377 political prisoners in Russia,” Dmitry Valuev, one of the organizers of the action, said in an interview with Voice of America. - A postcard to political prisoners with good wishes is the smallest, simplest, but at the same time very effective action. Because it gives a person in prison a hope that sooner or later it will all end. And the person will be released, will be able to travel, see friends. Such a message is a ray of hope. "

To participate in the action, organizers offered to buy postcards depicting numerous US tourist attractions. For example - a monument to George Washington or the building of Congress.

The websites of the human rights organization Memorial and the Rosuznik project were used to form the list of political prisoners. It contains both the addresses of colonies and detachments of prisoners who are already well-known (for example, Alexei Pichugin or Alexei Navalny), as well as those involved in lesser-known politically motivated criminal cases, including the defendant in the New Greatness case Vyacheslav Kryukov, a student accused of attacking office of United Russia, Azat Miftakhov, Crimean Solidarity activist Alim Karimov and others.

On the subject: US and EU imposed new sanctions against Russia due to the arrest of Navalny

“Any message from abroad is a sign of attention from the international community,” recalls Valuev. - When the administrations of the colonies see a letter with a foreign stamp and a foreign address, this is a signal for people in whose hands a political prisoner is in that heightened attention is drawn to his health and his fate, including from people who live abroad. We hope that this will protect the person from possible threats or pressure from the administration. "

Representatives of the US Protest Action Headquarters, coordinating the activities of the Russian diaspora, have also developed recommendations on what should be avoided when addressing political prisoners.

“Do not regret it, it annoys many. No “Hold on”. A person in prison requires strength in order not to lose heart, and pity is not the best helper in this, the event's Facebook page says. - If you want to support a person, try to find simple, kind words, remind him that he is not alone. If a person is at the stage of investigation, then you should not discuss a criminal case with him. Do not mention other people who may somehow be associated with this case. "

“I wrote to Alexey Pichugin. I can’t even imagine how a person who is serving life imprisonment and who has been imprisoned for a long time should feel. I really want to believe that there is still some hope, - said a participant of the action named Maria in an interview with the correspondent of the Russian service of the Voice of America. - I wrote to him that I have been living here for many years, that now my son has grown up, I talk to him about all these things and explain to him what is really happening in Russia. Probably, we need to find strength within ourselves, and we will try to do everything we can to improve the situation in Russia. "

“I wrote to Viktor Filinkov (person involved in the“ Network ”case - GA). I would like to support him at this difficult moment for him. Unfortunately, he received a very long term - seven years, - says a participant in the action named Svetlana. - Such terms are given in Russia for rape, but he turned out to be a victim of the regime and suffered completely undeservedly, for political reasons. But he will come out anyway, and I hope that he will be in a freer Russia. "

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read it all on ForumDaily New York

Another participant of the action, Anna, said that she would like to send words of support to all political prisoners in Russia: “They need these words most of all, because they are in a confined space. And I want them to know that in different parts of the world there are people who support them, who know about them, who know that they were wrongly treated. " According to an interlocutor of the Russian service "Voice of America", she wrote a letter to Alexei Navalny: "We really appreciate his willpower and courage, he put his life on making his country better."

The organizers of the action emphasized that the event will be permanent. Over the weekend, letters and postcards were sent to San Francisco, Denver and Washington. Previously, the action took place in California, and the next event is expected this week in New York.

Read also on ForumDaily:

In Russia, when registering on social networks, they will ask for passport details and address

Record box office: the film of the Russian director topped the American distribution

In Crimea, a pensioner was imprisoned for 12 years, accused of working for Ukrainian intelligence

Aeroflot cancels flights to American cities for a month: list

political prisoners Russian speaking immigrants Russia Our people
Subscribe to ForumDaily on Google News

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis. 



 
1064 requests in 1,175 seconds.