Imprisoned former FSB officer Igor Girkin should be regarded as a “political prisoner,” according to Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, despite his culpability for the war in Ukraine.
“Igor Strelkov was arrested illegally,” Navalny wrote, referring to Girkin by his alias. “As long as he remains in custody on this ridiculous and obviously politically motivated charge, he is a political prisoner."
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Navalny, a prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin who was himself jailed after surviving an assassination attempt in 2019, issued that statement in the teeth of Ukrainian suspicions that his liberal approach to politics was leavened by an imperialistic outlook. Navalny dubbed the pro-war Girkin a “cannibal,” but he faulted the Kremlin for jailing him on the basis of his political opinions.
“A person can only be judged for the crime he committed,” Navalny said. “To gloat that Strelkov has fallen victim to his own government is to publicly support lawlessness.”
Girkin was arrested last week after referring to Putin as a "cowardly bum" and a "lowlife." It was a striking and long-delayed backlash against the prominent pro-war voice, who has criticized Russian authorities throughout the war. He suggested last year that the war could end in revolution and said last month that Putin "really needs to transfer the powers, but legally, to someone who is capable of such hard work.”
Navalny's message stoked a controversy about the dissident that has simmered, especially in Ukraine, for years.
For everyone wondering why Navalny made a whole thread calling Igor Strelkow a "political prisoner", there is a simple explanation:
— Mark Kaplan (@VsimPohuy) July 25, 2023
Navalny wants to score political points from the fascist imperialist warmongering audience disappointed in how the war is going.
That's it
The opposition leader has earned an international reputation as a courageous opponent of Putin’s domestic repression — he returned to Russia voluntarily after being treated in Germany for a poisoning at apparent FSB hands — but he remains controversial in Ukraine due to past statements that questioned the propriety of Ukraine recovering the Crimean Peninsula (which Putin annexed in 2014), even in the event that he were elected president.
“It will remain part of Russia and will never become part of Ukraine in the foreseeable future,” Navalny said in 2014. “What, is Crimea a ham sandwich or something that you can take and give back? No, I don’t believe so.”
Navalny, who has denounced Putin’s war in Ukraine, changed course in the days prior to the first anniversary of the full-scale invasion to overthrow Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He issued a statement on Twitter calling for Russia to respect Ukraine's sovereignty within its “internationally recognized, and defined in 1991” borders.
“We, Russia, also recognized them back then. Russia must recognize these borders now,” Navalny said from prison. "There is nothing to discuss here. Nearly all the borders in the world are accidental and cause someone's discontent. But we cannot fight to change them in the twenty-first century. Otherwise, the world will plunge into chaos.”
Navalny emphasized that the legal basis for Russia’s borders is identical to that of Ukraine, but he continued to condemn the arrest of Girkin, who posed as a “separatist” commander in eastern Ukraine at the outset of the war.
“I’m the one who pulled the trigger on the war,” Girkin said. “Our detachment started up the flywheel of the war that’s still ongoing.”
Navalny said Girkin “was previously convicted by a court in the Netherlands in a process that, in my view, is consistent with the principle of judicial independence” for his alleged role in the downing of the MH-17 passenger jet.
“In any case, the fact of the murder of 298 Boeing passengers must be investigated by Russia, and all those responsible must be punished fairly,” he said. “But now, Strelkov has been arrested not on charges of committing a real crime, but on a fictitious and fabricated case of extremism. Simply put — for criticizing the authorities.”
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The charge of “extremism” is the same one that Russian authorities have invoked against Navalny in their recent move to add as many as 20 years to the Putin critic's nine-year sentence.
“Certainly, [Girkin’s] criticism is criticism from the right,” Navalny said. ”He scolded the cannibals for their insufficient appetite. And gave advice on how better to eat people. And how to wage an illegal, aggressive, and stupid war. However, regardless of [Girkin’s] views, we must stand on the side of law and justice.”