Freedom for Boris Kagarlitsky! No to political repression! No to war!
On July 25, 2023, Russian authorities arrested Boris Kagarlitsky, a well-known leftist publicist and scientist, and editor-in-chief of the online magazine Rabkor. He is charged with "justifying terrorism" for writing in 2022 that the military objectives of the Ukrainian attack on the Crimean Bridge were "more or less clear." The charge under this article carries a 7-year prison sentence.
In addition to the fact that such a sentence could represent a life sentence for a not-so-young man (64 years old) whose entire "guilt" consists of an absolutely logical anti-war stance for the left, this case is another step in the shameful campaign of political repression waged by Putin's regime for decades, which has taken on a particularly massive and cynical character with the onset of the aggression unleashed by this regime in Ukraine. This cynicism is symbolically emphasized by the fact that four decades ago Boris Kagarlitsky was already arrested in a political case - by Andropov's KGB.
In this situation, the campaign in defense of Kagarlitsky is not just a matter for his relatives and colleagues or human rights activists.
Opposition to each new attack is an important political action that reduces the likelihood of new repressions. In this case, such action could unite not only leftists, but also representatives of other segments of the Russian anti-war movement, many thousands of people around the world who have heard Kagarlitsky's name, read his books and articles, argued with him....
We are ready to participate in the most active way within the framework of the established organizing committee in the international campaign in defense of Boris Kagarlitsky and we call for the same participation of all anti-war initiatives in Russia and abroad.