They shouted their opposition by the thousands during the first days of the war. But since then, the Russian repressive machine has done its work. While the Russian army annihilates Ukraine, the regime of Vladimir Putin completes what remains of freedom of expression in the country of the tsars. Some Russian dissidents, however, defy the prohibitions, at the risk of their safety. The duty discussed with some of them or with their relatives. Third portrait in a series of four.
Alerted by a friend in Ukraine who told him that war had just broken out, Alexander Borisenko published a tweet in the first minutes of the Russian invasion to call on his fellow citizens to protest in the evening in a square in Yekaterinburg in Siberia western. Two hours later, police knocked on his door.
“I couldn’t even go to the rally. I was arrested before, says the 20-year-old young man, joined at his home in Beriozovski, about twenty kilometers from Yekaterinburg. But I want to clarify that I fully planned to participate in this event. »
For the history student, it was his duty to call on the Russians to “resist”, even though he knew he was going to be arrested. “It was a matter of principle [de m’opposer publiquement à la guerre], he said. Otherwise, when I have children, I won’t be able to look them in the eye when they ask me where I was when the war started. »
Found guilty of organizing a protest, Alexander served 25 days in prison. “At first, I was put in the same cell as a man suspected of murder,” he recalls. I was also imprisoned in a basement where it was impossible to know whether it was day or night. »
But today, Alexander says he has an answer — worthy of his beliefs — to offer his potential children. “I’ll tell them I was in jail,” he said, looking straight. I don’t regret what I did at all, not even a little. »
Resistance or complicity
The history student, whose grandfather was Ukrainian, has only a handful of Twitter followers, but his call to protest was reportedly broadcast more widely after others retweeted it. “We must resist,” he wrote in the early hours of the morning on February 24. We must not allow war against Ukraine. Otherwise, we will be complicit. »
That day, several dozen people who had taken part in the demonstration in Yekaterinburg were arrested, reports Alexander. “But they received a maximum sentence of 10 days in prison, since it was their first offense. The young man – who had already been arrested on January 23, 2021 during a demonstration in support of political opponent Alexei Navalny – received a heavier sentence.
A sidelining that did not shake his convictions. Since his release from prison, Alexander has been arrested on two other occasions: for tweeting a BBC report on the war in Ukraine and for demonstrating alone in a square in Yekaterinburg holding a sign on which he was standing. inscribed: “Against war for reasons of conscience. For these two offences, the young man was found guilty of having discredited the Russian army.
make a difference
Today, Alexander no longer knows whether he will be able to continue living in Russia. “I would really like to stay here, but I may have to leave because if I am arrested again, I could receive an even heavier prison sentence”, he laments, adding that comrades class have recently filed a complaint against him to denounce his political positions. ” It worries me. »
Without visibility, a new stay in prison would be useless to advance the cause, he believes. “I am not a famous person. I am not Navalny, he weighs. If I’m still imprisoned, no one will notice. I don’t see the point of going to jail without having the media attention that would allow me to make a difference. »
To give himself a stronger voice, Alexander has been working since his release from prison in an independent media. “I have the opportunity to talk about what is happening in the country, even if there is censorship,” he says. The young man also works as a volunteer with the Russian human rights organization Memorial.
“Talking to your newspaper also allows me to make myself heard,” says the activist. Like the other Russians interviewed for this dossier, Alexander accepted that The duty publish their identity. “When someone speaks up on their behalf, their words carry more weight,” he asserts with conviction.
On February 24, Russia became a dictatorship, he denounces loud and clear. “And this dictatorship is killing Ukrainians. »
With Vlada Nebo