Boris Kagarlitsky, a Russian anti-war intellectual, was labelled as a “foreign agent” by Putin’s regime and arrested in July last year for terrorism-related offences.
Kagarlitsky openly denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and was a signatory to a resolution adopted by the Russian “Anti-War Round Table of the Left Forces,” condemning the “unhealthy foreign ambitions of a narrow circle of individuals in the leadership of the country” and their attempts to divert public attention away from the state’s internal political failures.
In December, Kagarlitsky was found guilty and fined 609,000 roubles ($10,000) but was not sentenced to any time in prison. In response, the prosecution appealed on the basis the fine was “unjust due to its excessive leniency”. They also made false claims that Kagarlitsky was unable to pay the fine and had failed to cooperate with the court.
As a result, on 13 February, the military court of appeals sentenced Kagarlitsky to five years imprisonment and banned him from running any website for two years post-release.
In one of Kagarlitsky’s letters from prison, he addressed why Lenin continues to be relevant regarding Russia’s foreign policy. For Lenin, it was clear that the Russian Empire at the time of the First World War had engaged in war that was unnecessary to its people and also allowed the government to avoid the failures of its domestic policy.
Kagarlitsky similarly condemned the war on Ukraine, claiming that it was “an attempt to restore the shattered support for the regime in the face of mounting social and economic crisis”.
It is apparent that the Putin regime is trying to silence anti-war Russians like Kagarlitsky who draw attention to the failures of its domestic policy and have the potential to raise political consciousness across the Russian working class.
Unlawful
The Boris Kagarlitsky International Solidarity Campaign calls on the left around the world to demand an end to the unlawful imprisonment of Russians who oppose the war on Ukraine.
The campaign states that, “There is a clear reason for this crackdown on the Russian left. The heavy toll of the war gives rise to growing discontent among the mass of working people.
“The poor pay for this massacre with their lives and wellbeing, and opposition to war is consistently highest among the poorest. The left has the message and resolve to expose the connection between imperialist war and human suffering.”
Former leading members of British Labour, Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell, have given their support for the campaign.
The campaign has also garnered signatures from other leftist leaders and representatives of leftist parties from 17 countries. Author Naomi Klein and intellectuals including Slavoj Žižek, Tariq Ali and Fredric Jameson have all signed in support of the release of Kagarlitsky.
Socialists and activists in Australia should support the campaign.
Tortured
From prison, Kagarlitsky urges that the left support all Russian political prisoners, especially those less well-known than himself. Several activists are serving prison time for speaking out against the Russian government and its policies.
According to the Russian human rights NGO, OVD-Info, between 24 February 2022 and 22 January 2024, there were 19,850 detentions for Russians who took an anti-war stance regarding Ukraine.
Most anti-war political prisoners are tortured and subject to severe conditions in the penal colonies. Opposition leader Alexei Navalny died of “sudden death syndrome” in an Arctic penal colony. Similar concerns apply to Kagarlitsy, who is subject to sharing overcrowded cells in a penal colony at the age of 65.
Grigory Yudin, a member of the Boris Kagarlitsky International Solidarity Campaign committee, has called on the global left to fight for Kagarlitsky’s freedom in response to the war in Europe.
He states that, “If we manage to free Boris, we will have leverage to stop this war and shape the post-war order in the interests of the people, not the warmongering elites. This is clearly a case for uniting the global left, which remains shocked, fragmented and disoriented by this imperial war.”
Joining the international solidarity campaign for Kagarlitsky’s release is not only important to fight the repressive machine in Russia but also to support the struggle for liberation.
Sign the petition here.
By Julie Monteiro
