Konstantin Babitskiy

Linguist, human rights activist, bard.

A participant in the demonstration on Red Square on 25 August 1968 protesting the deployment of Soviet troops to Czechoslovakia. He was arrested when the demonstration was dispersed. He was charged with ‘slander against the Soviet system’ and ‘group actions that grossly violated public order’. On 11 October 1968, the Moscow City Court sentenced him to three years of exile, which he served in the Komi ASSR.

1960s

‘The Demonstration of the Seven’Dissidents Scientists

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The Final Statement

‘My mother, the Soviet school, and the great Russian literature, as well as the finest works of Soviet and foreign literature, have instilled in me a profound love and respect for the law, a love of progress, of our homeland, of our people, and of the peoples of the entire world.’

Citizens of the Court!

You are faced with a difficult and responsible decision. The legal grounds for such a decision have been examined here in sufficient detail. As a result of the trial, my conviction that I have not violated the law remains unshaken. I would like to draw your attention to an aspect of the case that is of great importance to me personally. I mean the motives behind our actions and the significance of your verdict.

I understand that the unusual circumstances surrounding our appearance on Red Square may, to some extent, arouse hostility towards us in some people’s minds. An example of this was the behaviour of certain citizens who, seeing us as enemies of everything that is so dear to them, rushed at us without hesitation. I believe they were mistaken.

Whom, in fact, do you see before you, Citizens of the Court?

I am compelled to speak about myself. My mother, the Soviet school, and the great Russian literature, as well as the finest works of Soviet and foreign literature, have instilled in me a profound love and respect for the law, a love of progress, of our homeland, of our people, and of the peoples of the entire world. I believe that, to one degree or another, each of us can say the same about themselves. I believe that this is sufficient grounds for people who respect the same values to treat differences in views with respect.

I ask you, Citizens of the Court, to see in me and in my comrades not enemies of Soviet power and socialism, but people whose views differ in some respects from those generally accepted, yet who love their homeland and their people no less than anyone else and therefore have the right to respect and tolerance.

I have to reckon with the possibility that I may be punished. I will not hide the fact that this prospect does not please me, but – believe me – I am far more concerned about the other, deeper consequences of one decision or another on your part.

I respect the law and believe in the educational role of a judicial decision. Therefore, I urge you to consider what educational role a guilty verdict will play and what role an acquittal will play. What kind of attitudes do you wish to cultivate among the masses: respect and tolerance for different views, provided that they are expressed lawfully, or hatred and the desire to suppress and destroy anyone who thinks differently?

I urge you to bear in mind that – as my friend Litvinov rightly said here – everything that comes from the socialist camp, everything good and bad that happens in our country, has a decisive bearing on the development of events throughout the world. I believe that you are not merely deciding the fate of several people for the coming years, but in one way or another – however remotely – influencing the fate of all humanity. I ask you to fulfil your duty with wisdom and in accordance with the law. I am confident that you will be guided solely by the law, and I calmly await my fate.

11 October 1968
Visiting Session of the Moscow City Court, Moscow, USSR.
Source: ‘Volnoe Slovo’, issues 14–15.
For more information: ‘Jewish Panorama’.
Photo: Jewish.ru.