Leo Tolstoy once said there is a straightforward way to understand how deep a person’s convictions are. We need to see what he is ready to give up for those beliefs: a cup of coffee, a bowl of soup, furniture, house, workplace, position, or freedom and life. I believe that people willing to pay a high price for their beliefs deserve respect. It is not so important that that person’s beliefs are close to my heart. By the way, there are no two people on earth whose views coincide 100 percent.
Alexei Navalny was undoubtedly a man of profound, steadfast principles. He could live as a political exile – give interviews and lectures. But Navalny preferred to return to Putin’s Russia, knowing full well what awaited him. Probably, such people do not so much calculate the consequences of their imprisonment or death as they make a choice based on their principles. It is an encouraging example for the minority, while the majority of Russian society (as well as other countries) lives in cynicism and disbelief. Killing or torturing political opponents in prison is a “favorite” practice of authoritarian regimes. Similar cases were also registered in Armenia. I mean, in particular, the deaths of Mher Yeghiazaryan and Armen Grigoryan during the supposedly “democratic” period, as well as Artur Sargsyan (“Bread Bringer”) during the “non-democracy” period.
As different as all these cases are, there is a similarity. Autocrats, great or small, cannot tolerate stiff resistance to their rule. One goal, of course, is to scare people, to keep them huddled in a corner. For this purpose, Pashinyan’s law enforcement officers initiate cases exclusively against users who make unpleasant posts to the government. Why do the “rights defenders” make noise in one case and remain silent in the other? There is no secret here. A grant is given to protect one, but not for the other. God be with them; it’s their business. I am sure that in all cases, it is preferable to reject repression. Based on that principle, the probable murder of Alexei Navalny should be condemned.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
