19 March 2024, Tuesday, 6:23
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Solidarity Gives Freedom And Saves Lives

Solidarity Gives Freedom And Saves Lives
Yuri Jibladze

Owing to the world solidarity Azerbaijan journalist Khadija Ismailova and Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko were released on the same day.

On May 25, Nadezhda Savchenko and Khadija Ismailova, convicted in Russia and Azerbaijan for political reasons, were released. And it was not a coincidence, president of the Center for Development of Democracy and Human Rights in Russia Yuri Jibladze said in comments to charter97.org:

– It’s a big double celebration today: two outstanding women – Nadezhda Savchenko and Khadija Ismailova were released on the same day. They have become a symbol of the struggle for freedom and the democratic future of their peoples both in their own countries and the world. Both of them have been illegally and unjustly convicted on political grounds.

It is essential not to misread their release on the same day as just a coincidence. One would think: two different countries, two different situations, Aliyev and Putin – what do these things have in common?

In fact, it is very important to understand that in both cases their release was the result of efforts of hundreds of thousands people around the world. People, who participated in the campaign against the injustice, and they were released.

If those hundreds of thousands of people had not acted, the Western politicians wouldn't have included the demand to release Savchenko and Ismailova as a priority issue in their negotiations with Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev. We know that the Western politicians have been rising these questions at every meeting.

Some may found it naive that we hold pickets, sign petitions, take pictures of our placards and publish them on the Internet. But it really works. The release of Savchenko and Ismailova is a very important example demonstrating that idealism in politics really works and can become a very practical, pragmatic action.

Even if Putin and Aliyev consider it part of some deal. Let them hope that in return, that sanction against someone will be lifted or they will be met halfway on some issues. This is their worldview. They do not believe in the values for which have always fought and continue to fight both Khadija and Nadezhda.

However, we do understand that it was social solidarity and the impact of society on the politicians that have led to such result: the release of Savchenko and Ismailova.

International actions in support of Nadezhda Savchenko

International actions in support of Khadija Ismailova

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