Alexei Navalny and Vladimir Kara-Murza are rare, indispensable and of unfailing courage. These are three reasons why statesmen, citizens, artists, trade unions, churches and intellectuals must do everything in their power to prevent these men from dying in prison.
These men are rare because so many of those well-qualified to take up positions of high responsibility in Russia have been killed or crushed to such an extent that they are among the last. Fortunately, they are not the only ones capable of representing and leading the post-Putin Russia of tomorrow. Others still unknown may also be able to do so; but none of them have the fame and the experience that Navalny and Kara-Murza have acquired in some 15 years of bringing the opposition together, defending the law and denouncing corruption.
These men are indispensable because the failure of the aggression Russia has committed against Ukraine will inevitably trigger a political crisis in Moscow. In the short to medium term, the question of succession will arise in the Kremlin, and the Russian Federation will be threatened by fragmentation and chaos.
At that point, capable figures who contribute to the stability of Europe and the world by preserving the stability of Russia will be needed. At that point, we will all be in need, in Russia and elsewhere, of Navalny and Kara-Murza’s courage and strength in order to make the voice of reason heard. So their conditions of detention cannot be allowed to be such that they will have already been killed by them. It is because of that real threat that we are launching this appeal.
As a matter of urgency, everyone has to say and have it be said to Vladimir Putin, either collectively or individually, at any Russian embassy or directly to the Kremlin: “No, Mr President, you can no longer be permitted to wreak vengeance on Alexei Navalny and Vladimir Kara-Murza simply because they are the best-known of your opponents. You must give up wanting them dead, must ensure they live and give them back their freedom.”
Bernard Guetta Journalist and MEP, Timothy Garton Ash Historian and commentator, Ezio Mauro Journalist and former editor-in-chief, La Repubblica, Adam Michnik Editor-in-chief, Gazeta Wyborcza
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