“We are not a country of murderers.” Yashin addressed the President of the Czech Republic Pavel

Ilya Yashin, an oppositionist who was sentenced in Russia to eight and a half years in prison in the case of so-called fakes about the Russian army and is in prison, wrote an open letter to the President of the Czech Republic, Peter Pavel. Earlier, in an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Pavel said that Russian citizens living in Western countries in the conditions of the war that Russia is waging in Ukraine should be “under the close attention of the special services”, and recalled the fate of US residents of Japanese origin during World War II wars

Pavel’s words caused a great resonance in the Russian-speaking environment in the Czech Republic, as well as a violent reaction of Russian propaganda, notes “Nastoyachesche vremya”. His interview was quoted by many world mass media and pro-Kremlin sources, in particular, Vladimir Solovyov’s channel. The press secretary of the president of the Czech Republic, Marketa Rehákova, later explained that “the president in no way had in mind the internment or any kind of persecution” of Russian citizens, and Pavel himself said that he had in mind the monitoring of the Russian diaspora as a whole, and not of Russian citizens , and noted that he did not call for them to be treated in the same way as with the Japanese in the United States, many of whom were sent to internment camps.

In his letter, Yashin says that he argues with his cellmates on various topics and tries to convey to them the idea that “Russia can be different” and that Russians “are not doomed to a dictatorship”, but that “European values ​​correspond to the interests of the Russian person”. According to him, he cites many historical examples, including the example of the Czech Republic and its first post-Soviet president Vaclav Havel.

“And imagine: in the midst of another such discussion, you appear on the TV screen, Mr. President. Kremlin propaganda relishes your words that all Russians living in Western countries should be brought under strict control by local special services,” says Yashin. One of his cellmates, as the politician notes, said during the discussion of Pavel’s words: “Putin correctly explains that for the West we are all second-class people. You and I. No difference.”

Yashin later writes that he believes that people should be “judged by their actions, not “for the company”” and that the special services should not “take a person under control because of his nationality.”

“I believe that Russia and Europe can live in peace and good neighborliness,” writes Yashin.
“I am sitting in Putin’s prison for this belief of mine. After all, Putin is killing my compatriots in the heads that Europe is the enemy and its leaders are Russophobes. Please do not help Putin convince Russians of this and be fair to my people. Believe me, we are not a country of murderers. We are a country where murderers seized power,” the oppositionist claims.

Ilya Yashin publicly spoke out against the war in Ukraine. He is one of the prominent opposition politicians who did not leave Russia until the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of this country. He was arrested shortly after he spoke live on YouTube in April 2022 about the mass murders of residents of Ukrainian Bucha, showing, in particular, BBC footage from Bucha and suggested to his viewers to compare them with the press release of the Russian Ministry of Defense. In December, a court in Moscow sentenced Yashin to 8 years and 6 months in a penal colony under the general regime in the case of “fakes” about the Russian army motivated by political hatred.