We publish a commentary by Margarita Popova, Third Secretary for Information Technology of the DPRK International Youth Friendship League.
My comrade Alexander Mostov has been detained in Istanbul. To many of you, he is known as one of the leaders of the DPRK International Solidarity Group.
Together with him, several dozen other activists were detained. For holding an anti-imperialist conference during the NATO summit, they are being charged with “propaganda of terrorism” and face up to five years in prison.
Their only weapons are words and conviction. The very situation where a peaceful conference is equated with a crime crosses all boundaries. This is literally punishment for having an opinion. They were detained for thinking differently and saying it out loud.
Justice must be on the side of those who analyse imperialism, not serve it. And if analysis leads to detention, then the very ability to think is under attack.
Right now, I was also supposed to be at the forum in Istanbul, but bureaucracy saved me. I was on the list of participants, but the preparation of documents was delayed, and I did not fly out.
For me, Sasha is first and foremost a person who believed in me. He pulls me into all the activities, helps me, drags me along. Because that is how he works – with people, with ideas, with convictions.
There is a post in this channel from three years ago. I wrote it for 30 subscribers after watching a podcast with his participation. At that time, I did not even think about the DPRK, but thanks to him I started digging, asking questions, showing interest.
And now this person, who always supported, who is genuinely passionate about what he does, has been detained on charges of terrorism propaganda. For a conference.
I hope everything will be fine. But hope alone does not solve anything. We will try to make sure everything is fine.
