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«Ask your governments to exchange political prisoners and not just soldiers!»: this is the appeal launched by Nobel Prize winner Dmitri Muratov, co-founder, publisher and former director of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, to the packed audience of the Festival du film et forum international sur les droits humains in Geneva (Fifdh), the most important exhibition in the world dedicated to human rights. The documentary Of caravan and the dogs, by Askold Kurov & Anonyme 1, had just been screened in its world premiere, a documentary which, like a countdown, filming a group of independent journalists and activists, follows the moves of Russian President Vladimir Putin which led to the complete suppression of freedom of the press. Among these, the reporters of Novaya Gazeta with their director Muratov, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021, and Memorial, the oldest Russian NGO working to bring to light Stalin’s crimes, which won the same prize a year later, as well as journalists from Echo radio and the Rain TV channel.
With exceptional images, shot in the editorial office at crucial moments, when increasingly restrictive laws came out which made the profession of journalist increasingly dangerous, the film documents the journalists’ attempt to resist, despite the fact that it was an obstacle course trying to provide information without being able define the war in Ukraine as “war” or “aggression” without being able to report many of the facts – for example an article which reported the words of one of the orphans sent to fight in Ukraine: «I don’t want to kill, I don’t want to shed the blood of others” was accused of discrediting Russia -, with the constant threat of being called “foreign agents” or being accused of spreading “fake news” and being sentenced to 15 years in prison.
The film documents the government’s closure of Memorial, 90 days before the aggression of Ukraine, the seizure of all their archives, the closure of the Eco radio station a few days after the war began, quickly followed by Rain tv , blocked after its broadcasting license was withdrawn, the auctioning of Muratov’s Nobel medal for 103 million dollars intended for Ukrainian refugees, and finally the closure of Novaya Gazeta, Anna Politkovskaya’s historic newspaper which has as many as seven journalists murdered as a result of their investigations. Closure which was followed by the opening of a newspaper in exile, in Riga, which manages to report on some Russian events thanks to the help of courageous journalists who remained in the country who transmit information secretly. Since the beginning of the war, one hundred media outlets and 640,000 websites have been blocked in Russia, 500 people and organizations have been included in the list of “foreign agents”, two thirds of which carried out journalistic activities.
Muratov, who wanted to stay in Moscow despite the risk of being imprisoned, after recalling article 29 of the Russian constitution which was supposed to guarantee freedom of the press and expression, the fact that no one should renounce his beliefs, showed in Geneva portraits of some Russian political prisoners – including 33-year-old artist Sasha Skochilenko, sentenced to seven years for replacing product prices on supermarket shelves with tags containing the names of Mariupol victims and information on war crimes committed by the Russian armed forces, and Vladimir Kara-Murza, journalist and activist sentenced to 25 years – launched an appeal to European citizens to demand that their governments and the UN deal with the journalists and activists imprisoned by Putin, for example exchanging them with other prisoners. He complained that the Red Cross has no concern for political prisoners, who it should instead be taking care of. And he condemned governments who preferred to buy oil from a dictator because it was convenient, who traded people’s lives for fossil fuels.
During the meeting, the hundreds of Russian people arrested for placing a flower in memory of the Russian dissident Alexei Navalny were remembered; the 17-20 thousand people who went to his funeral, with toothbrush and toothpaste, after having left their children with friends for fear of being arrested, the clandestine reseaus who help Ukrainians in Russia to escape. It was underlined that there are two wars underway, one against Ukraine, the other against civil society and the free spirits of Russia.