After the spectacular prisoner exchange, there is great concern about the political prisoners still imprisoned in Russia. There are many indications that Russia wants further deals.
“Spreading false information about the Russian Federation,” “defamation of the Russian armed forces,” “high treason” – the list of charges that can bring people to court in Russia is long. And the list of political prisoners is also long. This is shown, for example, by OVD-Info.
The non-governmental organization runs a website that documents politically motivated arrests. Dmitry Anissimov, press spokesman for OVD-Info, told ARD Studio Moscow After the spectacular prisoner exchange last week, it is welcomed that several people have been released: “In this context, however, we consider it important to remember that in Russia there are still more than 1,300 people behind bars for political reasons.”
Death after hunger strike
For example, there is the case of Pavel K. The 39-year-old activist was arrested for publishing allegedly anti-government materials. These included four videos on a YouTube channel that had five followers. Pavel K. had threatened to be charged with alleged “incitement to terrorist activities.” He died last weekend, probably as a result of a hunger strike.
Cases like this are usually not even known in the West. Not even in Russia. And if they are, then these cases are in danger of being forgotten because of everyday worries or sheer ignorance.
Anti-war activists don't forget
Fedor Krasheninnikov, a political scientist in exile, told the opposition Dozhd television channel last week: “There are a lot of ordinary anti-war activists sitting somewhere. They are all in a difficult situation and we must not forget them for a minute. We must remind ourselves and the whole world every day that the history of Vladimir Putin's repressions, unfortunately, did not end with this happy event.”
The “happy event” last week: the prisoner exchange. There is still a debate about it in Germany: Was it right or wrong to exchange the so-called Tiergarten murderer and, for example, a couple convicted of espionage for prominent Russian opposition figures as well as some US citizens and Germans?
But once this debate has died down, the many other political prisoners in Russia could be forgotten. But the opposite could also happen because Russia's president wants more prisoner deals. There are some indications of this: Russia's ambassador to the USA, Anatoly Antonov, wrote on the diplomatic mission's Telegram channel: “There are still dozens of Russians in American prisons. (…) We will make maximum efforts to continue the liberation.”
His compatriots ended up behind bars as a result of the US secret services' international “hunt” for Russians. And at the weekend, the Russian ombudsman for prisoners and human rights, Tatyana Moskalkova, also wrote on Telegram: “Unfortunately, there are still many of our compatriots in the countries of the collective West who have been convicted of various charges. (…) I hope that this historic exchange (last week) will pave the way for new humanitarian actions.”
Expert: Russia needs new hostages
In order to get to these Russian prisoners, Russia might need new Western prisoners – or rather, “hostages”. This is what political scientist Andrei Kolesnikov said last week in an interview with the opposition Russian breakfast show on YouTube: “On the Russian side, there is no doubt that the exchange fund will be filled with new faces.”
The only question is whether the USA or Germany would enter into a deal again – and at what price.
