Russia Behind Bars (RBB)
Russia Behind Bars is a public organization that was founded in 2011. Our goal is to support people who are deprived of any legal defence.
Russia Behind Bars hates jails and prisons, does not tolerate injustice, abuse of Russian laws and the rights of citizens. Russia Behind Bars is an informal union of persons who have been illegally and intentionally sentenced and of their relatives. We are actors and businessmen, poets and officers, doctors and teachers, we are citizens and patriots; we are those who don’t want to stand aloof as arbitrary rule destroys our compatriots’ lives, we are those who can’t stand the indifference of prosecution, of investigatory powers and other officially appointed perpetrators that have adopted corruption as a rule and have rejected conscience, human dignity, pride and honour as an atavism.
They think that they have won. They are sure that they represent the only real power in Russia. They feel certain of escaping any punishment and that they are immune to the law. We have united to show that they are wrong. We’ve united to retrieve fair and independent justice in our country. We’ve united to restore the right to defence and presumption of innocence for our compatriots. We’ve united to enforce the police and investigatory powers to arrest and convict real criminals, instead of extorting money from citizens and businessmen. We’ve united to force the courts to observe justice instead of following orders from above. We’ve united to make the prosecutor’s office supervise the correct implementation of the law, instead of protecting illegal businesses and bringing accusations of grave crimes against those who don’t give money. We’ve united to make prison warders correct those who have made a wrong step, instead of attacking innocent citizens and helping the investigators to force confessions, which can cost the former their lives.
Our lives do not belong to you, we say. It’s time to put an end to repressions against the most gifted and creative citizens of Russia. Hands off our future! Corrupt judges, policemen, prosecutors and officers of security services (siloviki) should go.
