 Source: HRO.org (info) Ildar Dadin, who has been recognised as a political prisoner by the Memorial Human Rights Centre, has issued an open letter to his fellow citizens. "Overcome your fears and do what needs to be done, act with integrity and don’t hide away. This is the only way to keep your conscience clear and remain a genuine person who is genuinely free – free on the inside, which is what really counts – to the very end,” said Ildar Dadin in his open letter. "I would stress to the small number of hotheads among us that conditions in modern-day Russia mean that any form of action can and must be strictly peaceful and non-violent. That is where our power lies against the authoritarian regime,” stresses Dadin. "... Even if there is only one chance in a thousand that I can stop innocent people’s blood being shed, I would give my own life – not the life of others, but my own life - to make the most of this single chance of stopping the blood-soaked lunacy. Conscience and humanity should reign supreme,” to quote the ending of Dadin’s open letter. Ildar Ildusovich Dadin was born on 14 April 1982 and lives in the Moscow region. He is a civil society activist who was sentenced to 3 years’ imprisonment in a penal colony after being charged with offences under Article 212(1) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Repeated breaches of laws regulating the organisation and carrying out of gatherings, rallies, demonstrations, marches and pickets”). He was under house arrest from 3 February 2015, and had been taken into custody on 3 December 2015. He has been recognised as a political prisoner by the Memorial Human Rights Centre, based in Moscow, on the grounds that the case for the criminal prosecution against him rests solely on his non-violent exercise of the right to freedom of assembly in connection with an alleged incident which never happened, and that his right to a fair trial has been violated and disproportionate detention measures have been used against him. More details about Ildar Dadin’s case can be found here. Translated by Joanne Reynolds |
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