End of indifference

Why, on a hot weekday, hundreds of citizens came to a rally, which, it would seem, had no chance of becoming a mass one, in order to express their support for the sixteen persons involved in the “Bolotnaya case,” Dima Pashinsky found out.

The crowd slowly gathered towards the narrow metal detectors, gradually filling the entire space of Novopushkinsky Square. The large number of people who came was pleasantly surprising, and the constant traffic jams and requests - “let me pass”, “let me pass” - only confirmed this. Even before the start of the event, which was announced for 1.5 thousand participants, there were already approximately 700-800 people. Closer to the middle, the figure reached one and a half, or even 2 thousand. By the tanned backs of some, I recognized those caring volunteers who visited Krymsk. There were a lot of them.

The rest of the picture looked pretty standard: a lot of journalists, a few police at the entrance and along the perimeter, permanent paddy wagons in the courtyards, a stage decorated with the call “Freedom for prisoners of conscience on May 6.” There are many flags - the Solidarity movement, Left Front, Another Russia, Russian Socialist Movement. Homemade posters from the creative class. I remember the slogan on one of them: “Higher the flag, wider the step!” Let’s march in formation to PutLag!”

And, of course, hundreds of different people - those who disagree, those who care, those who sympathize, those who passed by and those who were crazy. Such events are never complete without the latter; someone always has to shout about the Zionist conspiracy or the wonderful life in the Soviet past. In general, it looks like just another Moscow rally.

But there was still a difference. This time there was no such familiar political flavor. Truly humanistic principles came to the fore, and the differences and ambitions of the leaders took a break, at least until the fall.

The “Bolotnaya case” was rapidly acquiring the scale of our common cause, because everyone who was present there today was well aware that he could have been in the place of any of those arrested. I mentally imagined myself in the role of Yaroslav Belousov, Oleg Barabanov or Vladimir Akimenkov, who had gone on an indefinite hunger strike since yesterday.

Let me remind you that at the moment 11 people from among the suspects in the case of the riots on Bolotnaya are being held in a pre-trial detention center. For Alexandra Dukhanina, the court chose house arrest as a preventive measure. Alexander Kamensky and Maria Baronova are under recognizance not to leave. Also on the eve of the rally, human rights activist Nikolai Kavkazsky was added to the list, who will soon be charged with inciting mass riots.

The rally lasted almost two hours. The speakers replaced each other to the approving applause of those gathered, because no one imposed ideas, did not put labels, everyone talked about simple things for a civilized society - about legality, morality and justice.

“What kind of legality and justice can we talk about in this process when not a single riot policeman has been brought to criminal responsibility,” writer Sergei Shargunov asked rhetorically, “did anyone see how they beat people on May 6?”

I saw it.

Danila Lindele, assistant to State Duma deputy Ilya Ponomorev, also spoke about the authorities’ particularly reverent attitude towards law enforcement officers. This young guy with a well-trained voice conducted his own investigation on the blog about the provocations on Bolotnaya Square and, having sent the collected data to the authorized bodies, never received a response, although more than a month has passed. “Sobyanin allocates 300 million rubles for bonuses to police officers, and Governor Tkachev assures that there is not enough money for the restoration of Krymsk,” Lindele shared information. If it turns out to be true, is this not a triumph of the absurdity and shame of the authorities?

Human rights activist Lev Ponomarev in his speech first compared the similarity of methods of influencing the opposition in Belarus and in Russia, which recently seemed so incompatible to us. And then, remembering the terrible pages of our history, he concluded: “This process follows the pattern of 1937. The scale is different, but the patterns are exactly the same.”

During these words, some fanatic tried to distribute waste paper honoring the genius of the Stalinist regime. Apparently, with all the denunciations and recruitment that follow from this.

By the way, about recruitment. The father of one of the suspects very emotionally claimed that his son was arrested because he once refused to cooperate with the FSB and the “E” center, having been arrested at some rally. True, the parent did not specify the name of the employee who offered freedom in exchange for snitching, nor what kind of rally it was.

The only representative of the “culprits” of the event, Maria Baronova, said that she was well aware that, being under a written undertaking not to leave the place, it would probably not be worthwhile to conduct active social and political activities and go to the microphone, but to speak today as a sign of solidarity, contained in custody is a matter of principle.

Perhaps the most famous representative of the opposition, Sergei Udaltsov, did not intend to limit himself to today’s protest. Well, this position is typical for him. “We are here, and they are in stinking pre-trial detention centers! I can tell you a lot about the conditions of stay in the dungeons of Butyrka and other prisons. I've been there. And are we really capable of going out only once, just today?” Udaltsov addressed the public.

The intonation of the question did not suggest a negative answer, especially for the majority of those gathered, who already had experience in the peaceful occupation of various courts and departments.

The creative point of the event was put by a poet under the pseudonym Ars Pegasus, who outwardly resembles Lennon, and journalist Matvey Krylov, who read a letter from one of the political prisoners, like himself once was. It talked about how a person feels who sat down with an idea, behind his beliefs, who hopes to think that everything was not in vain. And after reading, one of the girls asked me: “Is this a hired actor or what? Is he reading an excerpt from the play?” Well, I told her about several of his “roles.”

There is no point in saying with confidence that all these people are unequivocally innocent, but the political background of the case is beyond doubt, otherwise how can we explain the bias of the investigation, the endless judge “no” to the lawyers’ petitions, the unmotivated refusals to include witness testimony and existing evidence in the case materials? video evidence.

I don't want to call this event a rally. Yes, of course, in form and official documents it was a rally, but not in content. Rather, it was more like an attempt to unite, regardless of views and occupied social levels. Unite in a situation where public trust in the state is rapidly declining and indifference is coming to an end.

But this is just the beginning.