Is Kasparov afraid of the mate from the government?
Georgy SATAROV: “Putin’s regime became extremely repressive during the last year”
Sensational news appeared in the media these days: the worldwide known chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov said he was afraid of coming back to Russia. At a press conference in Geneva, where he received the Morris Abrams Award on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the human rights organization UN Watch a few days ago, he said that he had regularly visited Russia, until he realized, at the end of last February, that he could become involved in proceedings against political activists. “Now I have serious doubts that I will be able to leave Moscow if I go there next time. I will refrain from going to Russia for a while,” Kasparov said.
Our readers will probably remember that Sergei Guriev, former head of the Russian School of Economics, has recently emigrated to France for fear of being imprisoned. The famous economist ironically agreed with president Vladimir Putin, who stated that Guriev had left due to “personal” circumstances. “Personally I prefer staying out of prison. My family want to see me free, and they deserve it,” said Guriev. In general, Guriev’s reasons for departure look like Kasparov’s reasons to stay out of Russia for some time. Why are world-famous people from Russia so afraid to come back to their homeland?
Georgy SATAROV, head of the INDEM Foundation (“Information Science for Democracy”):
“This is often a purely individual thing. I do not understand what Kasparov could have done and what could have changed so much that he suddenly became so fearful. In general, there are a lot of politicians in Russia with a rather radical standpoint, who oppose the incumbent government. It is not up to me to state Kasparov’s reasons. I think that as a figure with a global renown, Kasparov’s position is much safer than many others’.
“It is not Kasparov’s wording that is important, but his specific standpoint. He is much more secure than most oppositionist politicians.
“As for the fact that other politicians (including Guriev who said he would rather stay free) are afraid of coming back, this is quite a natural reflex.
“It is clear that there is a common reason for all this. Undoubtedly, Putin’s regime became extremely repressive during the last year. It has become unpredictably repressive. Unpredictable in the sense that it does not adhere to its own laws, but applies them randomly. Of course, this creates threats, which spread to a much wider community.
“Will those Russians who remain in the country be even more afraid of the government? This year also showed that attempts to intimidate people failed. I mean what happened in Bolotnaya Square a year ago, and today’s criminal trials and repressions. But it seems that it does not really stop people.”
