The scientific community called for the protection of Russian political prisoners

On Monday, Russian scientists issued an open letter in which they call for the protection of political prisoners. The letter was published on the website of the coordinating council of the T-Invariant organization, which unites Russian scientists living in different countries. It was a reaction to the death in prison of opposition politician Alexei Navalny.

The authors of the letter demand an independent investigation into the death of Navalny in the colony. In addition, they call on the international community to use every opportunity to protect other political prisoners in Russia, as well as to support opposition-minded Russians who are under threat of political persecution in their own country and need asylum.

The letter was signed by many employees of leading Russian and international universities and research centers. Collection of signatures continues.

• As of October 2023, more than 600 people were recognized as political prisoners in Russia. Of them, 420 people were persecuted because of their religious beliefs, and 185 because of their political position. These are only those who have been recognized as political prisoners by international human rights organizations.
• T-invariant is the former scientific publication “Troitsky variant”. It was blocked on the Internet by the Russian authorities in 2022 for the anti-war writings of scientists and scientific journalists, “Dozhd” clarifies.