Navalny: Russia Followed In Belarus’ Footsteps

The prophecy of Pavel Sheremet, who tragically died in Kiev, has come true.

This is what a well-known Russian politician Alexei Navalny wrote in his blog on the occasion of the Belarusian journalist Pavel Sheremet’s tragic death this morning in Kiev:

– I’ve seen Pasha Sheremet quite recently. He came to Nemtsov's memorial procession, a couple of days later, we had a dinner party with our families and friends – he had two grown up children.

Every time I saw him, we talked about what we called “the last autumn’s” prophecy.”

In September 2011, Evgeny Chirikov and Piotr Verzilov organized “The Last Fall” forum. There was no sign of any protest then and the politics was even more boring than it is now. Everybody was discussing what to do with the elections, and the debates between me, Nemtsov and Kasparov were the main event of the forum.

We sat down somewhere with Sheremet, he was telling me about Belarus and said that soon we would have the same in Russia. I strongly objected to him and brought 101 argument, why Russia was not Belarus.

– The country is bigger;

– The Internet is wider;

– There’s more money;

– The elite is more corrupt and more West oriented;

– Putin has nobody to be at war with (not with Ukraine, ha ha);

–Independent network media still exist, etc.

Pasha sadly objected to this: – Alexei, that’s exactly what we were saying about our country several years ago. A bunch of arguments why it was impossible to establish an authoritarian regime in Europe in the 21st century. And it has been established. And you see for yourself soon your internet and major network media taken under control, and your business keep a low profile, and there will be someone to be at war with, and such a degree of corruption of journalism, that it is impossible to imagine now, and how the corrupt pro-Western elite will become the most patriotic, not leaving behind their homes in Spain.

I heard that and thought that he looked like an intelligent man but was saying such nonsense.

Later, starting with 2013 I had to admit every time we met that he had been right with his stupid prophecy. And he could feel better the inside and secret thoughts of the former Soviet politarists, no matter where he was: in Belarus, Russia or Ukraine.

Well, the power knew that he could sense it, and always disliked him: Sheremet was put in prison in Belarus, persecuted and fired in Russia, he was kept under observation in Ukraine.

Pavel was a clever and brave man, a great journalist and a good person, too.

As such we’ll remember him.