The Final Statement
«Right now it may seem to you that I am out of my mind and all of you are sane, for one cannot swim against the current. But to me, it seems that you have gone mad.»
Everyone in Russia knows that whoever seeks justice in court is completely defenseless. The cause of such a person is hopeless: for if a dispute ends up in court, this shows that there is no power behind the plaintiff. Because in a country ruled by a criminal, disputes are resolved by bargaining, power, bribery, deception, betrayal, and other real-life mechanisms, not by some law.
This was brilliantly demonstrated in recent days: in the morning hours, the individuals who had been declared traitors and betrayers of the Motherland murdered several officers of the Russian army, with entire Russia watching this in bewilderment; yet already by lunch they struck some deal with somebody and went home to split suitcases filled with cash. And mind it, these suitcases are the real ones, not made of metal. They were even shown on Russian TV.
Thus, law and justice were once again shown their place in Russia. And it’s not at all prestigious. You won’t find law and justice in court, that’s for sure.
Overall, the courts have long since turned into just a venue where all a citizen can do is make a speech ‘without preapproval by government agencies’ (to quote a sentence that is repeated hundreds of times in my indictment). That said, for the most devious among us, those who abuse the opportunities provided by court proceedings and closing statements, the authorities at first invented closed court hearings, and then closed hearings in the confines of a prison.
Nevertheless, every opportunity to speak out must be used. And as I speak now in front of eighteen people (seven of whom have black balaclavas covering their heads), I want not just to explain why I keep fighting against the shameless evil force that calls itself “the state authorities of the Russian Federation,” but also to urge you to join me in this fight.
Why wouldn’t I? Maybe you put on these masks because you are fearful of some human expression that your face may inadvertently show if not covered by balaclavas? For example, the prison guard standing behind me right now is supposed to know, by virtue of his position, about the court hearings that are next in line for me. So I keep explaining to him about yet another criminal case, and the upcoming proceedings, and the new jail term that I’m facing. And every time that I tell him about it, he nods his head, closes his eyes and says, “I don’t understand you and I never will.” So I must try and explain it to him, after all.
The question of how to act is the central question of humanity. For everything around us is so complex and so incomprehensible. People have been searching all over for a formula on what is the right thing to do. They have been looking for something to rely upon in their decision making.
I really like the formula proposed by our compatriot, Professor [Yuri] Lotman, a doctor of sciences in the humanities. Speaking to his students, he once said : “A human being is always in an unpredictable situation. And here we have two legs to stand on: one is our conscience and the other is our intellect.”
This is a very wise thought, it seems to me. And a person should be standing on both these legs.
It is intuitively right to rely on conscience alone. But an abstract morality that does not take human nature and the real world into account will slip either into stupidity or into evil deed, which happened many times before.
As to reliance on intellect devoid of conscience, this is exactly what we have right now at the core of the Russian state. Initially, the elites viewed this idea as logical: let us build an unscrupulous yet a cunning, a modern, a rational, a merciless state using our oil, gas, and other resources.
We will amass more wealth than the tsars of the past. And we have so much oil that the common folk will also get something. We will assume leadership taking advantage of a world of contradictions and the vulnerability of democracy, and we will be respected. And if not respected, then we will be feared.
And yet the same things are happening as everywhere else. The intellect, unfettered by conscience, whispers: snatch this, steal that. If you are stronger, your interests are always more important than the rights of others.
Refusing to stand on the foot of conscience, my Russia made several big jumps, pushing everyone around it, but then slipped and crashed with thunder, destroying everything around it. And now it is squirming in a puddle of either mud or blood, with broken bones, and with its dispossessed population living in misery. And tens of thousands of dead victims of the most stupid and the most senseless war of the 21st century are scattered around.
Sooner or later it will certainly rise up again. And what it will stand upon in the future depends on us.
It seems to me that I am consistent in my actions, and I say this without dramatizing.
I love Russia. My intellect tells me that it is better to live in a free and prosperous country than in a corrupt and destitute one.
And as I stand here observing this court, my conscience tells me that there will be no justice for me or anybody else in this kind of a court. A country without a fair judiciary will never become prosperous.
And that means – now the intellect speaks again – fighting for independent courts, for fair elections, standing up against corruption will be a reasonable and right thing for me to do, because then I will achieve my goal and will be able to live in my free, prosperous Russia.
Right now it may seem to you that I am out of my mind and all of you are sane, for one cannot swim against the current. But to me, it seems that you have gone mad.
You have only one life given to you by God. And what have you decided to spend it on? On putting up these robes on your shoulders and these black balaclavas on your heads to protect those who have been robbing you? To help someone with ten palaces build yet another one?
For a new human being to come into the world, two people must agree in advance to put up with some deprivation: the new person will have to be delivered in pain, to be followed by sleepless nights, and then there’s getting him or her a dog. And then you’ll have to walk that dog.
Likewise, for a new, free, affluent country to be born, it ought to have parents: that is, those who want it to be. Those who expect its arrival and who are willing to sacrifice something to bring it into being. Those who realize that it’s worth it. It doesn’t mean that everyone has to go to jail.
It’s more like a lottery, and this is the ticket I drew. But everyone has to make some sacrifice, some effort.
I am charged with fomenting hatred against representatives of the authorities and security services, judges and members of the United Russia party. But no, I do not foment hatred. I just keep in mind that a person has two legs: conscience and intellect. And when you get sick and tired of tripping over with these powers-that-be, breaking your neck and destroying your future; when you finally realize that turning away from your conscience will eventually lead to the disappearance of intellect, then maybe you will stand up on both legs a human being ought to be standing on. Then together we will be able to bring closer the Beautiful Russia of the Future.
Penal colony №6, Melekhovo urban-type settlement, Vladimir Oblast, Russia
July 20, 2023
More about the case: https://memopzk.org/figurant/navalnyj-aleksej-anatolevich/
Photo: Alexander Zemlyachenko/Associated Press
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