Today, as in the Soviet era, thousands of innocent people suffer for their views and beliefs. Political prisoners are not a thing of the past. The methods of repression and oppression used by the Soviet Union and its communist satellites throughout its existence are being repeated today in the policies of contemporary Russia and other non-democratic regimes.
We joined the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a campaign in support of Ukrainian political prisoners. Their #SilencedVoices must be heard, as many remain in inhumane conditions in Russian penal colonies, far from their loved ones. Such as Iryna Danylovych, a civic journalist from occupied Crimea.
“Iryna was kidnapped in May 2022. No one had any contact with her for thirteen days, after which a trumped-up prosecution was launched against her. Allegedly finding explosives in her eyeglass case, she was sent to prison for seven years in the penal colony,” explains Tetiana Pechonchyk from the Human Rights Centre Zmina on her behalf.
“I would like to ask all those who are defending human rights all over the world, in their own country, to never stop and to fight as hard as the situation demands, as hard as you can, because people need your help,” appealed Nariman Dzhelyal, a deputy chairman of the Crimean Tatar parliament, who was captured in Crimea in 2021 and released in the summer of 2024.