Business emigrants will help political emigrants

Human rights activists and entrepreneurs who emigrated from Russia have registered the International Defense Foundation in the UK, which will help political emigrants in Russia. PublicPost spoke with its founders and found out who will finance the project and who will receive assistance.

The founders of the fund were the leader of the Russian movement “For Human Rights” Lev Ponomarev, the writer living abroad, Soviet dissident Vladimir Bukovsky, entrepreneur Vitaly Arkhangelsky, historian Pavel Stroilov, businessman Sergei Kolesnikov, who spoke about “Putin’s palace”, and the former head of the Nevsky district, deputy St. Petersburg Legislature Andrey Korchagin. The goals of the fund are to promote the development of civil society and the protection of human rights in Russia, and beyond its borders to provide assistance to political emigrants and entrepreneurs who emigrated from Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

According to Pavel Stroilov, the foundation intends to seek protection for people persecuted through Interpol mechanisms, despite the fact that one of the European states has provided them with protection. “In the modern world, state borders do not always restrain political persecution and human rights violations. Thus, Russian and other anti-democratic regimes constantly abuse Interpol, extradition requests and other international legal institutions. All this is often used not to fight crime, but for political and other illegal persecutions. This has already become an international problem, and the rights violated in this way need to be protected. This topic is not new for us, and we hope that our organization will work effectively in this area,” says Stroilov.

The fund’s program is just being developed; its founders assure that “International Defense” is more like an alliance of like-minded people aimed at solving common problems. So far, the fund has been created only technically - registered in the UK, the organization does not even have an account, said Lev Ponomarev. In Europe, he will work through the Russian community, and in Russia he will be represented by the organization “For Human Rights,” headed by Ponomarev.

Next up is the search for funding. “There are agreements. These are those who have already emigrated, who are often called “enemies of Russia,” says businessman Vitaly Arkhangelsky, who has lived in France since 2009. International Defense did not negotiate with the disgraced businessman Boris Berezovsky. To one degree or another. According to Arkhangelsky, Russian big businessmen who are on the Forbes list are also ready to cooperate with the fund: “Everyone has a plan b.” At any moment, anyone can be accused of all mortal sins. No one is immune from such chaos. Many are ready to help, but on a confidential basis."

They will help political emigrants and fugitive entrepreneurs not financially, but legally and morally. “No one will hand out sandwiches at the Eiffel Tower,” adds Arkhangelsky. “This is helping people who are under pressure - political and police. Helping them leave Russia, understanding where to go, how to leave, help with documents,” he says. "Help is not a matter of money. It is a matter of self-understanding. I experienced this myself, leaving with three small children. Not knowing anyone, sometimes it can be difficult, especially if, at the request of the Russian authorities through Interpol, you are thrown into prison in Belgium on trumped-up charges, Holland, Germany. It is important to be supported."

So far, the founders of the fund do not have specific candidates among political emigrants. But anyone can apply. The Foundation is ready to find potential victims and help them, for example, those who emigrated in connection with the case of the riots on Bolotnaya Square on May 6. Moreover, the founders of the fund predict a massive influx of “Putin emigrants” and compare the current situation in Russia with 1937. “Russia is rapidly moving from despotism and police regime to totalitarianism,” says the International Defense manifesto.