Galina Mikhalyova

GALINA MIKHALYOVA: Thank you very much. Of course, five minutes for a speech do not allow for a serious and meaningful discussion. “Yabloko” is the only registered party to have a list of political prisoners. We have had people convicted to real sentences. Some are still imprisoned to this day on other grounds than the widespread “political articles.” These are often staged occasions for people who do not hide their political beliefs and are themselves leaders.

VOICE FROM THE AUDIENCE: No one from “Yabloko” is in jail.

GALINA MIKHALYOVA: What do you mean no one is in jail? Right now I’ll hand Zoya Svetova the list we gave to Medvedev.

ZOYA SVETOVA: Andrei Piontkovsky, as far as I'm aware, is not under arrest.

GALINA MIKHALYOVA: I’ll pass the list now, check for yourselves. It’s clear that anyone of us may object to any named surnames, but I would like to underline that these are people who have suffered for their political beliefs. And the article under which they are charged, of course, is neither political nor “extremist.” Very often it is just a staged crime. [Republican Party leader] Vladimir Ryzhkov is planning to speak about political prisoners. [“Yabloko” leader Sergey] Mitrokhin also spoke about this yesterday and passed on all the documents. That is why this is all very important.

We must start from the next point; we have no rule of law. There is little point in hoping for courts to be making decisions based on the law. So in my opinion, it is necessary to begin from the presumption of innocence of the defendant. It seems to me that we should better be overcautious than not. The list should be longer rather than shorter.

Second of all, we are speaking here about political prisoners. I want to remind you of politically motivated persecutions. A huge number of people received suspended sentences. Among them are activists in our party I will name the former Chairman of the Petrozavodzk City Council Vasiliy Popov. He received a seven year sentence, literally for criticising the President of Karelia [Sergey] Katanadov, who was later removed from his post. I will also name Ivan Bol’shakov, the Deputy Chairman of the Moscow regional branch of “Yabloko,” against whom a case was fabricated for allegedly breaking a policeman’s hand. He also received a suspended sentence for five years, which has yet to expire. Such people should also be taken into account.

I also want to express a controversial yet important thought. It seems to me that the criteria for inclusion or exclusion within a list of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience may be determined by the extent to which the case was related to violence carried out by them. That is a point for the cases of Khasis and others. If a person has knowingly committed violence, it is then necessary to be cautious about his inclusion in such a list. If a person did not commit violence, he may then be included in such a list.

I support the proposal of Zoya Svetova. Of course a council of experts is needed. In order to establish the same criteria, it is necessary to discuss them. By not holding fruitful discussions among ourselves, we will never establish them. Thank you for your attention.

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