(Reuters) -Here is the text of a joint letter from 11 jailed Russian dissidents, issued to international leaders via Reuters.
We, Russian political prisoners, appeal to all international leaders who care about the suffering of people for their beliefs.
There are at least 10,000 of us – Russian political prisoners and Ukrainian civilian hostages. We are all punished for one thing – for taking a civic stance.
The concepts of justice and fairness are absent in Russia today; anyone who dares to think critically can end up behind bars.
Repressive legislation aimed at eliminating any dissent has been consistently tightened since 2012. From 2018 to 2022, at least 50 repressive laws were adopted, and since February 24, 2022 – over 60 more.
There are no acquittals in politically motivated cases in Russia. The cruelty of punishment is growing; no one is surprised by 10-, 15-, and 20-year prison terms. The State Duma (parliament) regularly demands the return of the death penalty.
The chances of a fair hearing of such cases by Russian courts were small before, but they finally disappeared after Russia refused to comply with the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights in 2022.
Human rights institutions in modern Russia have been completely replaced by bodies that merely imitate human rights activities. As a result, the health and lives of prisoners are at risk, torture and pressure against them are most often not investigated or punished. Political prisoners are, more often than others, held in harsher conditions and deprived of the opportunity for parole and legal relaxation of the detention regime. The practice of initiating additional criminal cases based on denunciations by other convicts has become common.
But despite all this, we have not lost our voices, we have not sunk into oblivion. We have maintained our civic position, which we consider important to state:
* We call on both sides of the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to immediately conduct an exchange of prisoners of war and civilians according to the formula “all for all”, including Ukrainian civilian hostages.
* We call for the immediate and unconditional release of sick political prisoners who are dying in Russian prisons.
* We are counting on politicians from different countries to create conditions for the release of all those persecuted in Russia for political reasons.
* We urge the media of different countries not to remain silent and to cover the activities of Russian citizens who continue to risk their lives in the struggle for freedom and democracy.
* We ask politicians from democratic countries to support the struggle of Russians and to adopt resolutions on behalf of Parliaments, political associations and parties.
Only together can we bring closer the time of freedom and peace.
Alexei Gorinov, Anna Arkhipova, Vladimir Domnin, Boris Kagarlitsky, Darya Kozyreva, Dmitry Pchelintsev, Andrei Trofimov, Ilya Shakursky, Alexander Shestun, Artem Kamardin, Azat Miftakhov
(Reporting by Mark Trevelyan)
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