Freed Russian prisoner on plight of captives in ‘Putin’s modern-day Gulag’

>>> WAR IS PEACE. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. IGNORANCE IS POWER. OF THOSE ARE THE PILLARS OF SOCIETY AS DESCRIBED IN GEORGIA OR THIS DYSTOPIAN NOVEL, BUT THAT IS NOT JUST AN AND I WILL PUT THE RUSSIAN POLITICIAN HAS BEEN FIGHTING AGAINST THAT REALITY WHICH HE SAYS DOES EXIST UNDER THE REGIME OF VLADIMIR PUTIN TODAY. HE BEGAN SPEAKING OUT AGAINST THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT AT THE AGE OF 16. HE ENTERED RUSSIAN POLITICS IN THE LATE 1990S AS VLADIMIR PUTIN WAS RISING IN THE RANKS OF THE KREMLIN. VOCAL AND LONGTIME OPPOSITION TO PUTIN'S REGIME PUT HIS LIFE IN DANGER COUNTLESS TIMES. IN 2015 AND 2017 HE WAS POISONED ALTHOUGH NO EVIDENCE COULD BE LINKED DIRECTLY BACK TO THE KREMLIN. THE OPPOSITION 904 DAYS AGO WHEN RUSSIA BEGAN ITS WAR ON UKRAINE. HE PUBLICLY CONDEMNED PUTIN FOR HIS INVASION OF UKRAINE SAYING HE CONDEMNS A REGIME OF MURDERERS. HE REFUSED TO BE SILENT. LEADING FAMILY AND FRIENDS TO FEAR FOR HIS SAFETY AND IMPRISONMENT IF HE WENT BACK TO RUSSIA BE ONE OF THEM WAS A BUSINESSMAN WITH DEEP AND PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE OF VLADIMIR PUTIN'S WRATH. IN 2007 HE HELPED EXPOSE MASSIVE CORRUPTION BY RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS WITH HIS FRIEND AND ATTORNEY. A WHISTLE BLOWER WHOSE TORTURE AND DEATH INSIDE A RUSSIAN PRISON SPARKED GLOBAL OUTCRY AND WORLDWIDE LEGISLATION AGAINST HIS HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES. HE KNEW WHAT HORRORS COULD AWAIT HIM IF HE WAS PUT IN A RUSSIAN PRISON. IN APRIL 2022 HE HAD DINNER WITH VLADIMIR AND HIS WIFE IN LONDON. HE PLEADED FOR HIM NOT TO RETURN TO MOSCOW. THAT IS NO WAY YOU CAN GO BACK. THEY HAVE TRIED TO KILL YOU TWICE. THEY WILL TRY AGAIN. AT BEST THEY WILL ARREST YOU. AND IF THEY DO, WE HAVE NO LEVERAGE TO GET YUP. PUTIN HAS GONE SO FAR OFF THE RAILS THAT HE DOES NOT CARE WHAT ANYONE THINKS. A REAR EXPRESSION PASSED OVER VLADIMIR'S FACE. I'M SURE EVERY FRIEND HAD SAID THE SAME THING AFTER LEARNING ABOUT HIS PLANS TO GO BACK TO RUSSIA. BILL, HE SAID. I AM A RUSSIAN POLITICIAN. ALL RUSSIANS SHOULD STAND UP TO PUTIN. BUT HOW CAN I ASK OTHERS TO DO THAT IF I AM TOO AFRAID TO RETURN TO MY OWN COUNTRY? I MUST BE THERE. I SPOKE WITH HIM ON APRIL 10, 2022 JUST DAYS AFTER THEIR EFFORTS TO STOP HIM FROM RETURNING TO MOSCOW. HERE IS A LITTLE BIT OF OUR FATEFUL CONVERSATION. >> ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT SPEAKING OUT AGAINST THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT AND THIS WAR AND INVASION FROM RUSSIA? >> WE ALL KNOW THE COST AND WE ALSO KNOW THAT THERE ARE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE IN RUSSIA WHO CATEGORICALLY OPPOSE EVERYTHING HE IS DOING IN TERMS OF DOMESTIC AND EXTERNAL AGGRESSION. >> THE VERY NEXT DAY HE WAS ARRESTED OUTSIDE OF HIS HOUSE AND RUSSIA CONVICT ULTIMATELY OF TREASON AND SENTENCED TO 25 YEARS IN A SIBERIAN PRISON FOR HIS OPPOSITION TO THE WAR. GIVEN ONLY ONE AND HALF HOURS A DAY TO WRITE IN HIS CELL HE RISKED FURTHER RETALIATION BY WRITING PASSIONATE COLUMNS THAT WERE PUBLISHED IN THE WASHINGTON POST, AND THEY EARNED HIM A PULITZER PRIZE WHILE HE WAS STILL INCARCERATED. EVEN WHEN PETITIONING FOR HIS FREEDOM BEFORE RUSSIA'S SUPREME COURT HE WOULD NOT RELENT. HE WROTE FOR A THIRD YEAR NOW MY COUNTRY OR MORE PRECISELY IN AGING A REMOVABLE, ILLEGITIMATE DICTATOR WHO HAS ARROGATED TO HIMSELF THE RIGHT TO SPEAK AND ACT ON BEHALF OF MY COUNTRY HAS BEEN WAGING A BRUTAL, UNJUST, INVASIVE WAR AGAINST A NEIGHBORING INDEPENDENT STATE. IN THE COURSE OF THIS AGGRESSION, THE INVADER HAS COMMITTED GENUINE WAR CRIMES. HE REMAINED IN PRISON IN RUSSIA UNTIL TWO WEEKS AGO WHEN HE BECAME ONE OF THE 24 PRISONERS RELEASED IN THE HISTORY OF PRISONER EXCHANGE ARRANGED BY THE BIDEN WHITE HOUSE. HE AND HIS FAMILY MET WITH PRESIDENT BIDEN AT THE WHITE HOUSE LAST NIGHT. JOINING US NOW FREE FROM HIS CELL IN A SIBERIAN PRISON IS THE PULITZER PRIZE WINNER. ALSO WITH US IS HIS FRIEND AND MINE. I WANT TO JUST READ THROUGH THE CAMERA AND GIVE YOU A HUG FIRST OF ALL. I TRULY, AND HE KNOWS THIS AND YOUR WIFE KNOWS THIS, I DID NOT THINK WE WOULD HAVE THIS CONVERSATION EVER, SO WELCOME BACK. >> NEITHER DID I. THREE WEEKS AGO I WAS CERTAIN I WAS GOING TO DIE IN A SIBERIAN PRISON. FRANKLY FELT LIKE I WAS WATCHING SOME SORT OF A MOVIE. A VERY GOOD ONE, BUT IT FEELS VERY SURREAL. I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME ON THE SHOW. IT IS GOOD TO BE BACK ON YOUR PROGRAM. THAT CLIP THAT YOU JUST AIRED WAS MY LAST TELEVISION INTERVIEW BEFORE MY ARREST, SO IT HAS SPECIAL MEANING TO BE BACK YOUR ON MSNBC. I WANT TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO THANK EVERYONE OVER THE PAST 2 1/2 YEARS. CONTINUING THEIR EFFORTS AND TO SPEAK OUT AND TO CAMPAIGN AND REMIND PEOPLE OF THE PLIGHT OF THOSE HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF POLITICAL PRISONERS WHO ARE LANGUISHING IN THERE FOR THE ON THE CRIME OF OPPOSING HIS DICTATORSHIP AND HIS CRIMINAL AGGRESSIVE WAR AGAINST UKRAINE. LET'S NOT FORGET THAT WHILE 16 OF US HAVE BEEN SNATCHED FROM THAT THERE ARE SO MANY OTHERS WHO ARE STILL THERE. THIS IS YOUR CHANGE OF HAPPENING TWO WEEKS AGO SHOWED I THINK VERY CLEARLY THAT AT THE END OF THE DAY PUBLIC OPINION IN THE FREE WORLD IS STRONGER THAN ANY DICTATOR IN ANY DICTATOR'S PROPAGANDA MACHINE. I WAS VERY GRATEFUL TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO PERSONALLY THANK THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES IN THE ROLE THAT HE PLAYED IN THAT EXCHANGE IN SAVING THE LIVES OF 16 PEOPLE. 16 HUMAN SOULS. TO ME THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A DEMOCRACY AND DICTATORSHIP IS THAT THERE CAN BE NO HIGHER VALUE FOR A DEMOCRACY THAN HUMAN LIFE AND 16 HUMAN LIVES WERE SAVED AND THAT EXCHANGE. I THINK DESPITE THE STEREOTYPES AND THE USUAL DRUMBEAT OF THE SKEPTICS THAT EXCHANGE SHOWED THAT THERE IS THANKFULLY STILL VALUES AND POLITICAL DECISION- MAKING. >> SOME OF THE KEY DRUMMERS WERE YOUR WIFE WHO APPEARED ON MY SHOW A YEAR AFTER YOUR ARREST TO TALK ABOUT WHAT WAS GOING ON AND OF COURSE OUR FRIEND, BILL. I KNOW YOU GOT A CHANCE TO REUNITE THE OTHER NIGHT. HE TWEETED OUT THAT YOU HAD A HUGE FEAST TO POST SOME KELLER'S NT BECAUSE YOU LOST A LOT OF WEIGHT IN PRISON. YOU SAW HIM THE OTHER DAY, AND WE TALKED ABOUT THIS A LOT. YOU KEPT THAT PRESSURE UP. I THINK THAT IS IMPORTANT. INSTRUCTIVE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT AND WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN. WE TALKED THE NIGHT THAT HE WAS RELEASED. YOU SAID HE IS GOING TO COME BACK, AND WE ARE GOING TO CONTINUE THE FIGHT.>> ABSOLUTELY. AS HE JUST SAID, THERE ARE 8000+ OTHER PEOPLE IN HIS GOO LOG. A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO ARE POTENTIALLY GOING TO DIE IF WE DO NOT GET THEM OUT. ON TOP OF THAT OF COURSE IS PUTIN'S MURDEROUS WAR AGAINST UKRAINE, AND WE HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO HELP THE UKRAINIANS FIGHT BACK. WE ARE TAKING A MOMENT RIGHT NOW TO CELEBRATE THIS ABSOLUTE MIRACLE OF HIM BEING ALIVE AND FREE, AND WE ARE GOING TO ENJOY THIS, BUT WE HAVE A LOT MORE WORK TO DO. WE SAT DOWN LAST SUNDAY FOR DINNER BUT THAT IS WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT IS WHAT WE ARE GOING TO DO NEXT BECAUSE HE IS NOT GOING AWAY. UNTIL THEY GET RID OF HIM THERE IS GOING TO BE A LOT OF SUFFERING IN TERRIBLE STUFF HAPPENING IN THE WORLD.>> IF SOMEONE DID NOT KNOW HE HAD BEEN IN JAIL FOR THE LAST TWO AND HALF YEARS IN PRISON THEY MAY NOT KNOW YOU. YOU'RE A LITTLE SLIMMER THAN YOU WERE BACK THEN. AND HE HAD SOME HEALTH ISSUES THAT DID NOT MAKE DOING HARD TIME GOOD FOR YOU. TELL ME WHAT THAT WAS LIKE YOU WERE IN ISOLATION THE ENTIRE TIME?>> YES. ALMOST 11 MONTHS STRAIGHT AND SOLITARY CONFINEMENT WHERE ESSENTIALLY YOU JUST SIT IN A SMALL CUPBOARD OR SELL WITH NOTHING IN IT. YOU HAVE NOTHING ON YOU. JUST ONE SMALL WINDOW AND YOUR BUNK IS ATTACHED TO THE WALL AT 5:00 IN THE MORNING. YOU DO NOT HAVE ANYONE TO SPEAK TO OR ANYTHING TO DO. YOU HAVE NOWHERE TO GO. ALL YOU CAN DO IS WALK AROUND AS MUCH AS YOU CAN AND THAT CONFINED SPACE AND STARE AT A WALL. ON THE GIVEN A PEN AND PAPER FOR 19 MINUTES A DAY. FOR ANOTHER YEAR TAKEN OUT FOR A SO-CALLED WALK, WHICH IS JUST WALKING AROUND AND A SMALL COURTYARD NOT MUCH LARGER THAN THE CELL. ON TOP OF CONSTANTLY BEING IN THIS CONFINED SPACE AND ON TOP OF COMPLETE ISOLATION FROM ANY HUMAN CONTACT. THERE IS A REASON WHY ACCORDING TO INTERNATIONAL LAW AND UNITED NATIONS NORMAL STANDARD RULES ON THE TREATMENT OF PRISONERS SOLITARY CONFINEMENT IS MORE THAN 15 DAYS LONG IS OFFICIALLY CONSIDERED TO BE A FORM OF TORTURE OR INHUMANE TREATMENT BECAUSE THEY ARE SOCIAL ANIMALS. WE NEED INTERACTION AND HUMAN CONTACT JUST AS MUCH AS WE NEED FOOD TO EAT OR WATER TO DRINK OR OXYGEN TO BREATHE. THAT IS FROM THE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT PSYCHOLOGICALLY. IT IS A PSYCHOLOGICAL FORM OF TORTURE. ON TOP OF THAT ALSO FROM CALLING MY FAMILY IN THE YEARS THAT I HAVE BEEN TO PRISON. ONLY ONCE WAS ABLE TO TELEPHONE MY WIFE AND TWICE MY THREE CHILDREN. I WAS FORBIDDEN FROM GOING TO CHURCH. IT WAS FUNNY TO ME OR PERHAPS THAT IS THE WRONG WORD IN THIS SITUATION, BUT AMUSING THAT SO MANY PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD TAKE THIS PROPAGANDA THAT SOMEHOW VLADIMIR PUTIN IS A DEFENDER OF TRADITIONAL FAMILY VALUES AND CHRISTIAN VALUES. THAT IS HOW YOU LIKE TO BETRAY HIMSELF. WHENEVER ANYBODY REPEATS THAT PROPAGANDA LINE I HOPE THEY REMEMBER THE FACT THAT POLITICAL OPPONENTS OF HIM AND POLITICAL PRISONERS OF PUTIN WHO ARE CONFINED TO THE PRISONS . NOT ALLOWED TO CALL THEIR WIVES OR THEIR CHILDREN OR GO