A prisoner exchange between 16 inmates in Russia, Belarus and eight criminals incarcerated in five European countries took place on August 1. This international transaction involving intelligence agencies from a total of seven countries is the largest since the Cold War.
While the ceremonies in the United States and Russia to celebrate the freed prisoners were immediately publicized, controversy arose over the release of a Russian intelligence agent who had carried out an assassination in Germany and was serving a life sentence. In the midst of the turmoil, we would like to remember the words of three Russian "political prisoners" who held a press conference in Bonn, Germany the day after their release.
The three men are Vladimir Kara-Murza (42), Ilya Yashin (41), and Andrei Pivovarov (42), who were imprisoned for confronting the Putin regime. They are activists close to Alexei Navalny (47 years old at death) who died in a Siberian prison in February this year, and are considered likely his successors. Kara-Murza criticized Russia's war crimes and was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2023. Yashin accused the massacre in Bucha, Ukraine, and Pivovarov organized a democratization group, both were convicted of treason and spreading lies.
In terms of generation, they are the children of Russia's current ruling class, including Putin, who is in his 70s, but on the other hand, they received the liberal education of the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Mikhail Khodorkovsky (61), who resisted Putin in the 2000s and was exiled after serving 10 years in prison, and Boris Nemtsov (55 years old at death), who was assassinated in 2015, are the "first generation of resistance." Kara-Murza and others are the "second generation" who fought alongside Navalny in the 2010s.
The press conference was broadcast live around the world via internet by the international broadcaster Deutsche Welle. Although they looked haggard, their speech seemed sharper. After being transferred from a Siberian prison to the FSB's Lefortovo prison, they were blindfolded and on the flight to Turkey, where they were to be exchanged, they "recognized each other." Pivovarov began by saying, "We were prepared to die," and Kara-Murza expressed his surprise, saying, "It doesn't seem real that I'm here."
However, when Yashin said with a somber expression, "I do not want this kind of prisoner exchange," the press room was buzzing. While thanking his supporters at home and abroad, Yashin declared, "I asked not to be on the exchange list. I also refused to write a petition to Putin for amnesty. My conscience refuses to run away from threats."
Like Yashin, Kara-Murza, who remained in Russia and was detained despite further political repression following the invasion in Ukraine, said, "This should be called expulsion, not release. Leaving the country against my will is illegal." In other words, even though they were imprisoned for political reasons on unjust charges, they chose to stay in prison "to uphold the right to live in their own country and their inner political freedom."
Kara-Murza said, "Like a drop in a great river, we are only a small part." According to the Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights organization Memorial, there are currently about 800 political prisoners in Russia. In many cases, trial records are not made public, making the situation even more serious. Kara-Murza said, "The difference between authoritarianism and democracy is whether human lives can be protected or not." Pivovarov expressed his mixed feelings as he looked at the faces of colleagues, saying, "You may think that only a few have been rescued, but my friends were saved from death."
All three men's passports to travel abroad have been confiscated, and if they force their way back to Russia, they will undoubtedly be arrested. This reminds me of Navalny, who was poisoned, collapsed, received treatment in Germany, and returned to Russia soon after recovering. Kara-Murza and Yashin will probably try to return to Russia when the time comes. It's like rugby warriors rearranging the scrum as many times as they want to score a try. However, there are no rules or fairness on the opposing side. Whatever the outcome, there can be no "No-side" like after a rugby match.
The intelligence officer in charge of Yashin's transfer told him, "If you return to Russia like Navalny, you will die like him," hinting at the truth behind Navalny's death in prison. The intelligence officer also told Kara-Murza on the plane taking off from Moscow, "This is the last time you will see your homeland." At that moment, Karamurza said he thought about the fate of Soviet-era dissident Vladimir Bukovsky. Bukovsky was exiled in 1976 in a prisoner exchange, but returned to his homeland after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Kara-Murza replied to the officer immediately, "I will definitely return home, much sooner than expected." He said, "I love Russia. Russia deserves more than to be left under the authoritarian dictatorship of a corrupt, murderous man. It deserves to be part of a modern, democratic Europe. That day will come, and I will spare no effort to bring it closer."