"For the celebration of evil, it is necessary that good people do nothing"

Daria Navalny performed on graduation at Georgetown University. Students demanded to cancel her performance. Some stood their back to the stage during speech

The daughter of the Russian opposition and political prisoner Alexei Navalny Daria performed at the ceremony of diplomas at the Diplomatic Service of the University of Georgian University. The recording of the performance was published by the Utuub channel "Navalny Live". Students, teachers and graduates of the university demanded to cancel Navalny’s speech due to her father’s statements in the past, including the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014. Judging by the recording of speech, some students with the flags of Ukraine turned their backs to the stage when Navalny rose to her. Others conducted her applause. "Medusa" publishes the decoding of speech by Daria Navalny with minor abbreviations.

Hello everything. Thank you very much for invited me. If I look excited, then this is because it is. There is a huge crowd, and it is a great honor for me to be here. I wanted to thank the dean of Joel Hellman and the school of the diplomatic service of Walsh for the invitation, for me it is a great honor to be here today.

My name is Dasha Navalny. My dad Alexei Navalny fought against Putin even before it became mainstream. For more than two decades, he fought against corruption, misinformation and dictatorship. For this struggle and for the confrontation of the cruel dictator, he has already served two and a half years in harsh conditions of a single chamber and a penalty area without the necessary medical care.

My dad subjected himself to the risk of new accusations for opposing an unjust and terrible war in Ukraine. Now he is threatening another 30 years for expressing his opinion.

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Like all of us here, my dad believes in freedom of speech, in the freedom of the press. He believes in honest elections, he believes in democracy. And right now he and many others are persecuted for these beliefs.

In 2021, my dad returned to Moscow after poisoning with a neuro-paralytic substance, knowing that he would be arrested. Because, simply put, you cannot run away from your problems. It is necessary to conduct difficult conversations, look for the truth, resist the authorities when you know that they are doing wrong. It is necessary to continue to persist and fight, because actions say louder words.

I miss dad every day. He does not have to be your hero, but he is my hero. And the leader who fights and enhances the voices of those who continue to fight and die from the authoritarian regime of Putin.

We students are pioneers of the future. Most of us, present today at the ceremony, did not have to fight for our fundamental rights and freedoms. However, somehow we were chosen by fate or circumstances to represent those who continue to fight.

Each of you has demonstrated the desire, passion and devotion to the common good to be where you are today. And I am here to ask you about one simple thing. Do not lose it. In the world there are too many burned adults heading governments. And it seems that they lost the passion that they had once had.

Save your passion. Follow your passion. Stand up what is right.

In this rapidly changing bureaucratic environment, it is very easy to lose the innate feeling of who you are, or just sell. I don’t know, I'm learning to Stanford.

I would like to finish this, no matter how trite it may sound. Great responsibility comes with great power. And in order to get this power, you need to finish Georgetown. And you did it, congratulations!

But seriously, do not look for easy ways. You are future leaders in the world. Bring this responsibility with pride, selflessly look in the face of your problems. And always remember that the only thing that is necessary for the celebration of evil is so that good people do nothing. Thank you!