Moving statement by young Russian woman dissident
JVL Introduction
JVL is pleased to amplify the important voice of Alla Gutnikova by sharing her moving statement at the end of her trial in Russia as recently published in “Forward”. Amongst those sentenced to two years hard labour alongside Gutnikova were Armen Aramyan, Natalia Tyshkevich and Vladimir Metelkin. Their stand for free speech – and for freedom more widely – in the face of severe repression is both important and humbling. We acknowledge their courage as we have recognised the courage of those Russians protesting the war’; we must always remember those who have taken a stand, especially when they do so at the risk of severe punishment.
This article was originally published by The Forward on Thu 14 Apr 2022. Read the original here.
On the eve of Passover, a Russian Jewish heroine resists Putin
Alla Gutnikova is a Russian Jewish woman, and one of the former editors of the Moscow Higher School of Economics’ student journal “DOXA.” Gutnikova, along with four of her fellow editors, was sentenced to two years of correctional labor each for their role in a video questioning whether it was right for Russian teachers to discourage their students from attending rallies protesting opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s incarceration. They were charged with “inciting minors to take part in illegal opposition protests.”
As the Russian government brutally shuts down dissent from its own citizens over its invasion of Ukraine, acts of courage and resistance like Gutnikova and her colleagues have done are increasingly rare, and their dream of a liberal Russia grows increasingly unlikely. On the eve of Passover, we felt it important to share the voice of a powerful Jewish woman speaking truth to power.
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Thank you Alla and thank you JVL.
I will take Alla’s words and quotes to my poetry group this week … one small way of passing them onto a wider audience. Through the group’s indirect contacts they may well reach Jewish, Quaker, Anglican, medical and academic audiences.
We all need the inspiration and hope Alla’s words and quotes give us in the present terrifying time of darkness and unpredictability, I feel.
A powerful and beautiful piece. Teachers should use it in schools.
What a wonderful piece. So much there, yet simply, it means taking full responsibility as a human being for all our actions of body, speech and mind and truly being able to put ourselves in the shoes of others. Thank you.
I admire Alla for her blazing courage and clarity in the face of dictatorship and violence. I hope she will be able to see these comments and know how deeply her words have affected us, even though we’re thousands of miles away. I rejoice that, even though a repressive state has condemned her to prison, her spirit will forever remain free, flying high as a beacon for us all. Thank you, Alla.