A departure outcome

Nobel Laureate in literature, the Belarusian writer Svetlana Aleksievich left the Russian Pen-Center. She reported this to the publication "Our Niva".

The reason was the refusal of the Pen-Center to support the appeal of a number of members of the organization to Vladimir Putin with a request to have mercy on Ukrainian director Oleg Sentsov, as well as the exclusion from the organization of journalist Sergei Parkhomenko .

"All the ideals of the founders of the foam are violated. The conflict with Parkhomenko occurred due to the fact that the Russian Pen refuses to sign letters in defense of those who suffer from Putin’s power more than once. And now there was a case with a time-serving director Sentsov. Again, Pen declared that this was not a matter of writers-to defend someone, to defend something quietly and write-to write, honestly, licking, licking, licking The boots of the authorities, ”said Aleksievich.

At the same time, a member of the Belarusian Pen Center Aleksievich remains.

On the eve of leaving the Pen-Center , the poet Lev Rubinstein stated . “The last straw was the news of the exclusion of foam or other repressive measures against several of my colleagues. And not just colleagues, but frankly, friends. And not just like that, but with completely unacceptable formulations and assessments of their personal qualities,” the open letter published by him says.

Rubinstein also noted that a split occurred in the PEN center. "And, unfortunately, it will go deeper. And it will delve into the power of obvious ideological and moral differences and the fundamental difference between views on the current social state of the country and the world, on the boundaries of the compromise, on those borders, crossing the human rights organization, the role of the writer and the artist in society. This is itself, but this is not the main thing. And to agree.

Later on Tuesday it became known that the Russian Pen-Center left Grigory Chkhartishvili (Boris Akunin) and Alexander Ilichevsky.

On Tuesday, more than 30 members of the Russian Pen-Center demanded to hold an extraordinary meeting of the organization in connection with the decision of the Executive Committee to exclude Parkhomenko, temporarily suspend the membership of the poet Grigory Petukhov, and to endure a strict warning in the writer Marina Vishnevetskaya.

“This decision is shameful. Excluding Parkhomenko“ for retreating from the immutable principles concluded in the Charter of the International Pen-Club ”and“ punishing ”his colleagues, the leadership of the Russian Pen-Center itself retreats from the principles set forth in the Charter. It is Sergey Parkhomenko and his colleagues, acting as the initiators of human rights letters, honestly fulfilled the norms and ideals. To immediately cancel this decision, ” the appeal says.

On December 24, members of the Russian Pen-Center, writers and scientists turned to Putin with a request for the pardon of Sentsov. Culture figures supported the request of film director Alexander Sokurov to treat Sentsov with mercy.

"We ask you, Mr. President, to apply the norm of the law to Oleg Sentsov, allowing the head of state to make a decision to pardon convicts without guilty on their part, please use all available resources and mechanisms for the speedy liberation of our colleague Oleg Sentsov," the document says.

At the same time, the press service of the Russian Pen-Center said that the organization itself has nothing to do with the letter. “We didn’t write anything to Vladimir Vladimirovich. The Executive Committee and President of the Pen-Center do not participate in this. This is not our initiative. We have a group of“ liberal ”oppositionists who are trying to conflict and lead their own line with us. They are members of the center, but accept their own statements, collect signatures among like-minded people,” the press service explained.