You also can be a part of it!
With the current war scenario in Europe, the world seems to have regressed to the times of the Cold War’s bipolar partition, with communism on one side and capitalism on the other. The division is no longer by the prevailing economic system, but the dispute for the political system and, above all, for hegemony returns. You are either on my side or with the enemy. It is no coincidence, then, that the largest prisoner exchange between Russia and the United States since the dissolution of the Soviet Union is now taking place. Russia and Belarus handed over 16 detainees in Ankara: 15 by the former and 1 by the latter, while the United States, Slovenia, Norway, Germany, and Poland delivered a total of 8 people to Moscow. Among those released by the Kremlin are journalists, political activists, and military personnel of various nationalities, including Russians accused by Moscow of espionage or treason.
It is good news to see innocent people, persecuted and unjustly accused, regain their freedom and be able to leave the country that imprisoned them. This is especially true after the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny last February while detained in a maximum-security prison and after numerous human rights organizations reported that his health was fragile and the government did not provide appropriate medical care.
However, the exchange leaves a bittersweet taste. First, because the people detained by Moscow and Minsk were unjustly accused, persecuted for asserting their fundamental civil rights. For many of them, their only crime was questioning the regime that later condemned them. For others, not even that. Thus, they became hostages of this regime, the most visible demonstration of intolerance toward anyone who dares to question the unquestionable.
On the other hand, because there are still too many political prisoners in Russian cells. According to the Memorial Human Rights Center (winner of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize and officially dissolved by the Russian government the same year) and its Political Prisoners Support Program, there are currently 765 political prisoners in Russia, 633 persecuted, and 135 possible victims. The organization OVD-Info speaks of 1289 political prisoners in pre-trial detention centers and prisons. Thus, this exchange brings relief, yes, but it also reminds us that there is a long way to go to end the Kremlin’s harassment of its dissidents.
It is relevant to note the names of the 16 freed, considering that their stories are just a small percentage of the total unjustly detained:
Many of those recently detained, after the start of the large-scale invasion of Ukraine, faced charges that seemed tailored for this exchange. Moscow simply intended to recover its own and, for that, had to detain journalists, young tourists, anyone traveling to Putin’s lands with a Western passport, particularly from the United States or Germany. Only an excuse was needed. Now, Russia hands over political prisoners and recovers murderers and fraudsters:
This spy game and accusations that seem stolen from the Cold War raise two fundamental questions: could any of those accused by Russia have actually committed a serious crime? Looking at each story, it doesn’t seem to be the case. Therefore, it is worth turning the question around: could any of those freed by Western countries have been truly innocent?
The last detainee who was part of this exchange was Spanish journalist Pablo González, who worked for, among other media outlets, the television channel La Sexta. Born in Moscow, the son of a Spanish mother and a Russian father, he moved to the Basque Country at the age of 9. Shortly after the start of the Russian invasion in 2022, he moved from Ukraine to Poland, where he was detained for alleged espionage and remained incommunicado. However, no evidence was presented against him, nor was there a formal charge for more than two and a half years. Even if he were guilty (which is a concrete possibility), the exceptional nature of his detention raises many doubts.
This irregular detention was denounced by the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Federation of Spanish Journalists’ Associations, the International Federation of Journalists, and Reporters Without Borders, among other organizations.
In this scenario of a journey back to the world of espionage and the Cold War, it is worth asking what is real and what is not. The only way to resolve this dichotomy is by respecting the civil rights of local and foreign citizens, through fair, open trials with concrete evidence and charges. Otherwise, it will be illegitimate persecution. The solution to the injustices committed by authoritarian regimes cannot be to become the cannibal; it cannot be to operate in the same way as the enemy.
Instead, acting responsibly and insisting on the release of political prisoners is the best response that can be given to the hundreds of men and women who remain unfairly behind Russian bars.
