Honourable Court

Honourable Court,

When I was 19 years old, I was added to the list of terrorists and extremists for the posts that were previously read out during the court hearing. This list, alongside people persecuted for their political views, includes organizations such as ISIS and the Taliban. The latter, by the way, was recently removed from the list, while a certain Yegor A. from Rostov was even fined for criticizing this truly terrorist organization, which has terrorized women and those who disagree with the regime for years.

We used to laugh when saying that Russia’s partners would be North Korea, Iran, and Afghanistan. Today, this is no longer funny.

At a forum for young people on Utøya — the Norwegian island where, 15 years ago, the terrorist Anders Breivik shot and killed 69 people, most of them teenagers — I met 29-year-old Aisha. Two terrorism cases have been brought against her because she created her own music group and sang songs. She fled the country. Aisha and I spent a long time thinking about how much we want to return Home: she, because she cannot imagine life without her Home; I, because I want to visit the graves of my beloved grandmother and grandfather, whose funerals I could not attend because of political persecution. And in Russia, my brother Arseny is growing up without me; he has started to forget what I look like. I do not know when or how I will be able to see him again.

By the way, speaking of the terrorist Breivik: not long ago, he appeared at another court hearing with the letter Z shaved on his head. This is a good reason to think about what kind of people support Russian militarism today.

Honourable Court, returning to the circumstances of the criminal case, I would like to explain my position. When reading out the materials of the criminal case, the prosecutor drew attention to a post on my Instagram with a young man standing in front of the words “No to War,” and below it, my caption: “The one who is right is the one who defends his home.” In general, this is exactly my position. I oppose the war unleashed by Russia. I stand for Russian soldiers getting out of Ukrainian territory. I believe that if February 2022 had not happened, there would have been no explosion on the Crimean Bridge, and no university students who went out to a “rally” in support of the annexation of Ukrainian territories. I know that if February had not happened, we could have lived more or less normally. In this regard, I want to state that I do not repent and do not admit guilt. If I were 19 again, I would do and write the same thing — only without grammatical mistakes and questionable constructions in the text. But I am already 23.

Your Honour, considering that this is relevant to the criminal case, I would like to share with you a story about the town of Kirkenes, where I live today. The Northern Fleet Military Court, by the way, is located 154 kilometers from my home, and only the 15 kilometers separating me from the border with the Russian Federation stand between me and many years of imprisonment and the suffering of my loved ones.

Many people like me live here — “foreign agents,” “extremists and terrorists,” “traitors to the Motherland,” as Maria Zakharova says. But alongside us, there are also citizens here who support the Russian regime and express their civic position without any risk to themselves. Last year, by the monument to Soviet soldiers in Kirkenes, I met Sergey, who, holding a Wagner PMC flag, sent greetings to Russian soldiers in Ukraine and elsewhere. Sergey is doing well — which cannot be said about the founder of Wagner. He was not questioned, no criminal case was opened against him, and he was not deported. The representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church in Kirkenes, who have repeatedly spoken about their wish for the “Russian World” to come closer to Kirkenes, are also doing well. Other supporters of the “Russian World” are also doing well. Because that is how a state governed by the rule of law works — a state Russia also considers itself to be.

Your Honour, unfortunately, unlike me, the student Rafael Mamedov was not so lucky: the Northern Fleet Military Court sentenced him to 15 years in prison for running a public page with memes. This is how arbitrary human freedom has become today.

Honourable Court, unlike Rafael, I do not care what punishment I receive — whether it is a fine, 5 years, or 20 years. In absentia, even execution. On the presumed day of the verdict, I will go with my 10-year-old sister to a neighboring country, where we will eat ice cream and go to an amusement park with our Ukrainian friends. These friends came to Norway from the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, or, in Newspeak, Artemovsk. Their old home, like the city itself, no longer exists — it was destroyed by the Russian army. But it is good that those places still have us.

Olesia Krivtsova