There's no air left

On January 26, members of the Russian PEN Center published a statement in which they sharply condemned the draft amendments prepared by the Ministry of Justice to the “Law on Foreign Agents”, according to which “it is proposed to consider as political activity any action aimed at protecting the rights and freedoms of a person and citizen, any attempt at public influence on the decisions of authorities, including local ones"

Our statement is not a "letter to the Turkish sultan". This expression is used often, but few people are familiar with the text of the letter itself. Cossacks, freemen - if today someone answered “the Sultan” like that, he would not have lived for five minutes. Russia has become a kingdom of fear. Any statement - and in parliamentary, unlike the old Cossack, expressions - can send a person to camps or to the next world, "according to the law and not according to the law," as State Duma deputy Delimkhanov honestly stated. However, the curses and threats that make up the letter from Repin's painting are now allowed with impunity by those who, at the same time, beat the Sultan with their foreheads. To those whose concern is that Russia should not slide back into feudalism, from which it has tried to free itself for so many centuries, and periodically succeeded. Today they are under the gun: “foreign agents”, “enemies of the people”, “national traitors”. If you continue to follow the path of endless prohibitions and reprisals (which in former times were the norm for the attitude of masters towards slaves), depriving an increasing number of people of their rights and freedoms, the destitute will become a “Birnam forest”.

The phrase “Russia of the 21st century” was a kind of dream and almost a reality: we are part of civilization, maybe not the first violin, but soloists of the global world, one of the eight most developed countries. Yes, feudal psychology and economics are strong, but we hoped that the age of high technology and a fair wind (and it was) would make Russia one of the most enviable states in the world. And suddenly, with supersonic speed, we were sent in the opposite direction. Now, with all these inquisitorial laws and amendments, most of which directly contradict the Constitution, it remains to be seen how close we are to Saudi Arabia, Iran, North Korea (and we are already living in America during the McCarthy period), whether there is air left to breathe.

Any statement - and in parliamentary, unlike the old Cossack, expressions - can send a person to the camps or to the next world, "according to the law and not according to the law," as State Duma deputy Delimkhanov honestly stated

The letter of the Sultan, to which the Cossacks answered “extremistly” (not to the “two”, but directly to the “ten”, according to modern times), sounded like this: “I am the Sultan and Lord of the Sublime Porte, the son of Ibrahim I, the brother of the Sun and the Moon, grandson and vicar of God on earth, ruler of the kingdoms of Macedonia, Babylon, Jerusalem, Great and Lesser Egypt, king over kings, ruler over rulers, incomparable knight, undefeated warrior, owner of the tree of life, relentless guardian of the tomb of Jesus Christ, trustee of God himself, hope and comforter of Muslims, intimidator and great defender of Christians, I command you, Zaporizhzhya Cossacks, to surrender to me voluntarily and without any resistance, and not to make me worry about your attacks. Isn't it true, it looks like the style of the dialogue of the "untouchables" with the people, from which they are fenced off with seven-meter fences, oprichnina and a machine-gun line of prohibitions? They are the law, not the constitution. It's funny, though sad, that on Constitution Day one of its authors was taken to jail for a poster in defense of the Basic Law.

Among my ancestors were Cossacks, however, not Zaporozhye, but Terek, and I bear their surname, perhaps that is why I remembered that correspondence. But we, as polite people (in a good way), unlike those Cossacks, politely address the Force. Power, do not drive the country into the stall of the "gloomy Middle Ages."