Lev Ponomaryov
Lev Ponomaryov | |
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Лев Пономарёв | |
Moscow Helsinki Watch Group and Democratic Russia |
Lev Aleksandrovich Ponomaryov (Russian: Лев Алекса́ндрович Пономарёв, 2 September 1941) is a Russian political and civil activist. He is an executive director of the all-Russian movement "For Human Rights." He is a member of the Federal Political Council of Solidarnost, and was deputy to the State Duma in its first period.
Education and early career
Ponomaryov graduated from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MFTI) in 1965 and from the doctorate program of the same institute in 1968, becoming a doctor of physics and mathematics. He worked in the Theoretical and Experimental Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and simultaneously taught at MFTI in the general physics department.
Human rights and political activities
1980s
In 1988, Ponomaryov helped create the human rights organization Memorial.
In 1989, Ponomaryov filled the place of academic Andrei Sakharov in the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union after he died suddenly from a heart attack. Ponomaryov took part in the Coordination Council of Moscow Union of Electors and in the initiative group for the creation of the Civil Action Committee.
1990s
In 1990, he was elected a People's Deputy of the
In the autumn of 1991, he presided over the parliamentary commission for investigation of
In 1993, he lost the elections to the State Duma in a single-mandate constituency and in the list of the electoral union Democratic Choice of Russia. Ponomaryov entered the Parliament only after the death of deputy Vasilii Seliunin. From 1994 to 1996 Ponomaryov was a deputy of the State Duma, a member of the committees for CIS Affairs and relations with nationalities.
In 1997, Ponomaryov founded the Russian human rights society "For Human Rights" (Za prava cheloveka), becoming its executive director and a member of the Council on Motion. Also in 1997, Ponomaryov was one of the founders of the "Hotline" (Goriachaia liniia) and founded and is one of the most active members of the group Common Action (Obshchee deistvie).[1]
2000s
He has been a member of The Other Russia coalition since its foundation in 2006 and also a member of its executive committee.
In 2007, he lost a case of defence of honour and dignity against Yury Kalinin, the Director of the Federal Service of Execution of Penalties (FSIN). The court obliged Ponomaryov to refute the unreliable information about Kalinin that he had made public.
He actively defended the ex-owner of
Lev Ponomarev is a member of the United Democratic Movement "Solidarnost". On 13 December 2008, at the first Solidarnost congress, he was elected as a member of the political council of this movement.
Late in the evening on 31 March 2009, he was physically assaulted near his home. Ludmila Alekseeva thinks that this attack was connected with his political and human rights activities within the "Solidarnost" movement. At the meeting of Russian and US Presidents on 1 April 2009, Barack Obama, according to his assistants, mentioned the attack against Ponomarev among the main US concerns about Russia.
2010s
On 10 March 2010 he signed an appeal of the Russian opposition stating "
On 14 July 2010, he declared that he considered it necessary to maintain article 282 of the Penal Code.
On 25 August 2010 he was sentenced to a 3-day arrest for attempting to carry the state flag of the Russian Federation along Arbat Street on State Flag Day, 22 August. The day before, Boris Nemtsov was acquitted in the same case.
On 7 September 2010 he was sentenced to a 4-day arrest for disobedience of the police.
Ponomaryov was sentenced to at least 25 days of detention in December 2018 in because of a Facebook post publicising an unauthorised rally that was to take place at Lubyanka square in Moscow on 28 October. The aim of that protest was to demonstrate solidarity with certain young activists being charged with alleged anti-terrorism and anti-extremism offences.[2]
2020s
On 28 December 2020, Ponomaryov was added to the list of media "foreign agents" by the Russian government alongside four other persons. No reason however was provided as to why they were added to the list.[3]
On 30 January 2022, during the 2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis, Ponomaryov led a public declaration published in Echo of Moscow opposing the Russian threat to further invade Ukraine. By 7 February 5000 people had co-signed the declaration.[4][5][6] On 20 February 2022, Ponomaryov and seven others, including Yuri Samodurov, held solitary street protests in Moscow against the Russian threat to attack Ukraine and were arrested.[7]
Ponomaryov also initiated a
After the
Controversy
On 22 March 2012,
In a discussion with Andrei Norkin , Ponomaryov said that while the video was mostly genuine, the publishers had particularly tried to signify words like "money". However, he said that he was talking about simply encouraging funding of civil society organizations in the Far East, not asking money to organize protests in favour of Japan's claim as was being alleged. He admitted that human rights organisations got foreign funding, but stated it was necessary since the authorities had driven them into such a position. He claimed that the video had edited the portion where he said Nemtsov and Ryzhkov would go to blood,[clarification needed] adding he was talking about the authorities who would go to blood[clarification needed] if these people try to hold rallies. Ponomaryov also noted that Putin himself had promised to hand back the disputed islands per the Soviet–Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956.[12]
Decorations and awards
- 2010—Ponomaryov was decorated with a Commandor's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland by a decree of the President of Poland Lech Kaczyński "for outstanding results in the defence of human rights and promotion of civil freedoms".
See also
Family
Lev Ponomaryov has two daughters from his first marriage, Elena Liptser and Xenia. He was then married to Eugenia Ilyina with whom he has had two children, Anastasia and Fedor, born in 1984 and 1986, respectively.[citation needed]
References
- ^ a b "Пономарев, Лев: Исполнительный директор Общероссийского общественного движения "За права человека"" [Ponomarev, Lev: Executive Director of the All-Russian Public Movement "For Human Rights"]. Lenta.ru. 23 February 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
- ^ "Commissioner calls upon the Russian authorities to release Lev Ponomarev". Commissioner for Human Rights. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
- ^ "Russia Labels First Individual 'Foreign Agents' Amid Worries of Clampdown". The Moscow Times. 28 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
- ^ Ponomaryov, Lev; Borshchev, Valery; Gannushkina, Svetlana; et al. (30 January 2022). "Заявление сторонников мира против Партии Войны в российском руководстве" [Declaration by peace activists against the Russian leadership's Party of War]. Echo of Moscow (in Russian). Archived from the original on 30 January 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
- ^ Galeotti, Mark (7 February 2022). "Anti-War Broadside Highlights Nationalist Critique of Putin". The Moscow Times. Archived from the original on 7 February 2022. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
- ^ "Thousands Of Russian Intellectuals, Activists Urge Kremlin To Avoid 'Immoral' War With Ukraine". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 1 February 2022. Archived from the original on 1 February 2022. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
- ^ "В Москве задержали правозащитников, которые вышли в пикеты против войны в Украине" [Human rights activists who protested against the war in Ukraine were detained in Moscow]. Current Time TV (in Russian). 20 February 2022. Archived from the original on 20 February 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
- ^ "Stoppt den Krieg mit der Ukraine! Bereits über 1,18 Millionen Russen haben Petitionen unterschrieben" [Stop the war with Ukraine! More than 1.18 million Russians signed petitions]. ScienceBlog - Kaleidoskop der Naturwissenschaften (in German). Vienna, Austria: Institut für Science Outreach (i∫⊂⨀). 4 March 2022. Lew Ponomarjow: Gegen den Krieg - Net Voyne. Archived from the original on 19 March 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
- Change.org, PBC, www.change.org/NetVoyne
- ^ "Exiled Russians Mourn Navalny, Blame Putin For 'Murder'". Barron's. 16 February 2024.
- ^ Гришин, Александр (21 March 2012). ""Вы нам иены, мы вам - острова"" ["You give us yens, we give you islands"]. Kp.ru - (in Russian). Retrieved 29 December 2020.
- ^ ""Там есть совершенно грязный момент, прямо открытый монтаж"" ["There's a completely messy moment, straight open cut"] (in Russian). 23 March 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
External links
- All Russia Movement for Human Rights
- Committee to Free Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev
- Habeas-Corpus.net, the pro Justice and Democracy web
- Open Letter to Russian President by Sergey Kovalyovregarding the attack on Lev Ponomaryov