Original Material
To the Russian president
The most complete and updated list of the Western cultural luminaries calling on Putin to grant adequate medical care to Navalny
A growing list of cultural giants in the West, from celebrated writers to Hollywood stars, are joining an open letter addressed to Vladimir Putin, calling on Russia’s president to grant adequate medical care to imprisoned opposition politician Alexey Navalny, whose life could be at risk after weeks of rapidly declining health. The letter first appeared in French at Le Monde and in English at The Economist. Meduza is now publishing the appeal to President Putin, as well, with an updated list of all signatories. We will update this list as it grows.
To President Putin,
As we write, Alexey Navalny is being held in a penal colony that many lawyers and human rights advocates consider to be one of the harshest in Russia. As has been reported worldwide, his health is deteriorating and he is in a critical state and requires urgent medical attention.
Alexey Navalny is exhibiting symptoms of a severe neurological disorder — constant back pain and the loss of sensation in his legs and hands. In addition, he is suffering from a severe cough and fever. As a Russian citizen, he has the lawful right to be examined and treated by a doctor of his choice. Having been denied this right, on March 31, he began a hunger strike in protest.
We call on you, Mr. President, to ensure that Alexey Navalny is immediately given the medical treatment and care that he urgently requires — and is entitled to under Russian law. As someone who has sworn to uphold the law, you have only to do so.
Original signatories:
filmmaker J.J. Abrams
journalist and writer Svetlana Alexievich
novelist Martin Amis
journalist and historian Anne Applebaum
author and satirist Christopher Buckley
filmmaker Ken Burns
author Emmanuel Carrère
historian Christopher Clark
novelist John Maxwell Coetzee
actor Benedict Cumberbatch
actor Alan Cumming
novelist Rachel Cusk
actor David Duchovny
author Louise Erdrich
historian Sir Richard John Evans
chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
historian Niall Ferguson
actor Ralph Fiennes
historian Orlando Figes
author Antonia Fraser
actor and writer Stephen Fry
author Neil Gaiman
literary critic Henry Louis Gates Jr.
poet Louise Glück
scholar Sam Greene
novelist Matt Haig
playwright David Hare
novelist Robert Harris
novelist Daniel Kehlmann
writer Etgar Keret
journalist David Lagercrantz
actor Jude Law
novelist Marc Levy
novelist Ling Ma
author Ben Macintyre
writer Hilary Mantel
novelist Agnès Martin-Lugand
actress Natascha McElhone
actor Ian McKellen
writer Catherine Merridale
novelist Herta Müller
writer Péter Nádas
journalist Sylvia Nasar
actor Bill Nighy
author Suzanne Nossel
novelist Amélie Nothomb
poet Michael Ondaatje
journalist George Packer
novelist Orhan Pamuk
journalist Robert Peston
writer Maria Popova
novelist Richard Powers
author Ellendea Proffer Teasley
actress Vanessa Redgrave
journalist David Remnick
author J. K. Rowling
author Arundhati Roy
novelist and essayist Salman Rushdie
lawyer Philippe Sands
musician Nitin Sawhney
historian Simon Schama
author Samanta Schweblin
historian Simon Sebag Montefiore
novelist Elif Shafak
philosopher Peter Singer
author Ali Smith
author and historian Timothy Snyder
cartoonist Art Spiegelman
actress Juliet Stevenson
playwright Tom Stoppard
writer Patrick Süskind
actress Kristin Scott Thomas
novelist and writer Colm Tóibín
musician Björn Ulvaeus
journalist and author Tim Weiner
author Simon Winchester
novelist John Wray
musician Thom Yorke
New signatories:
filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar
philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah
writer Fernando Aramburu
scholar and writer Reza Aslan
novelist and poet Margaret Atwood
writer Paul Auster
actress Shabana Azmi
actor Alec Baldwin
Nejma Beard (widow of photographer Peter Beard and director of his archive)
anthropologist François Bizot
actress Juliette Binoche
actress Jane Birkin
actor and former soccer player Eric Cantona
journalist John Carlin
writer Jesús Carrasco
pianist Philippe Cassard
writer Javier Cercas
writer Ron Chernow
novelist Maryse Condé
artist Molly Crabapple
filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin
poet Rita Dove
writer Maria Duenas
theater director Marianne Elliott
novelist Jeffrey Eugenides
theater director Oskar Eustis
novelist and essayist Jonathan Franzen
filmmaker Costa-Gavras
writer Roxane Gay
actor Javier Giner
filmmaker Amos Gitai
journalist and writer Philip Gourevitch
writer Almudena Grandes
novelist Lev Grossman
playwright Jessica Hagedorn
writer Daniel Handler
filmmaker Todd Haynes
author Victoria Hislop
actress Isabelle Huppert
novelist Siri Hustvedt
playwright David Henry Hwang
filmmaker Shekhar Kapur
screenwriter Jemima Khan
writer Phil Klay
author Jhumpa Lahiri
writer J.M.G. Le Clézio
author Pierre Lemaitre
writer Sanaë Lemoine
journalist Elvira Lindo
actress Sophie Marceau
novelist Jay McInerney
novelist Eduardo Mendoza
novelist Claire Messud
historian Adam Michnik
stage director Ariane Mnouchkine
novelist Patrick Modiano
journalist Rosa Montero
writer Antonio Muñoz Molina
writer Azar Nafisi
musician Steve Nieve
writer Joyce Carol Oates
poet and essayist Robert Pinsky
novelist Francine Prose
author Philip Pullman
playwright J. T. Rogers
writer George Saunders
philosopher and writer Fernando Savater
wrtier Roberto Saviano
essayist Stacy Schiff
theater director Peter Sellars
artist Cindy Sherman
writer Gary Shteyngart
novelist Jane Smiley
musician Patti Smith
composer Stephen Sondheim
photographer Alec Soth
editor Richard Stengel
actor Patrick Stewart
poet Rose Styron
Russian translator Arch Tait
author Amy Tan
actress Emma Thompson
writer Olga Tokarczuk
journalist Calvin Trillin
novelist Anne Tyler
writer Álvaro Vargas Llosa
writer Mario Vargas Llosa
writer Manuel Vilas
actress Emily Watson
writer Tobias Wolff
writer John Weidman
writer Lawrence Wright
television presenter El Gran Wyoming