Yesterday I took part in the French international radio broadcast from Paris -- RFI. Of course, it was about Nadia, and not about my book, because who needs it? The book is about Russia and why people are the way they are, and about Andrei D. Sakharov, a member of Russian Academy of Sciences (May 21, 1921 -- Dec. 14, 1989). Sakharov was a Russian nuclear physicist, anti-Soviet dissident and human rights activist. I said in the book that the place of academician Sakharov is vacant and will be taken by Nadia. She is planning to continue to advocate human rights in Russia.
"And not Khodorkovsky?" asked one of the anchors, Inga Dombrovskay. I replied, "Nadia, because she is more of a media person." This is in continuation of messages received yesterday by Peter Verzilov that Time magazine wants to put Nadia and Maria Aloykhina on the cover. (After Stalin, Gorbachov, Brezhnev, Yevtushenko and ... Hitler -- Americans truly are having a Renaissance of views.)
The anchor asked: "We have a traditional question about the Eiffel Tower -- like, dislike, no comment?" My attempt to wriggle out of comments failed and so I said, "The Eiffel Tower -- it is like a common television tower in any provincial town of Russia." I said then that I am entering on shaky ground and a trail of myths about Russia, great mysterious powerful country! But mostly on RFI we engaged into demythologization of modern Russia.
Other questions and answers:
Q: Why were Khodorkovsky, Nadia and Masha were released?"
A: A cheap Kremlin PR stunt before the Olympics so not everyone would boycott it.
Q: Is Putin's amnesty -- a sign of warming up in Russia -- a thaw?
A: It is not; it is an imitation.
Q: Has the attitude of the Russian people toward protest in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior changed?
A: As we remember, the people demanded crucifying the girls, burning them, have them quartered on Red Square and make them sweep the territory of Hell (the church) -- that is obscurant Orthodox religion, the state religion of Russia. People did not require them to be crucified, quartered and to clean churches; as they at the same time spending two years of strict regime in prison without the right to correspond and the right to eat dry bread.
People in Russia do not have their own opinion. The people lost direction, they are demoralized, rootless, drained by the instability that has continued for 400 years since the great turmoil and corruption. It is impossible to ask a jellyfish stranded on the beach for its opinion about anything. I'm sorry, but during the two years of harassment of the women from the punk band Pussy Riot, I finally lost faith in the Russian people and the hope that on this earth in Russia there will ever be something different. Nadia has not lost hope! I, yes, I lost it!
Q: Have there been threats from the Orthodox and others?
A: To me no, but Natalia Aloykhina, mom of Maria Aloykhina, said there were calls -- threats that when Masha leaves prison, they will kill her and her child.
Q: What is my attitude on this issue?
A: I do not think anybody will do anything, because the anger and love in Russia it is all fake. I repeat, people do not care and they won't lift their bun off the couch where they watch the Kremlin's cocaine of information (disinformation) to get up and do anything.
Something new I noted that probably others did not in an analysis of Nadia Tolokonnikova's Twitter: the gap between the latest tweets and present ones are almost two years and are structured by a quite a different life. The latest Twitter is as if it is another person -- a professional revolutionary -- something as a parent I did not want to notice.
Tweets from Feb. 2012, one week before Punk Prayer:
Gera (Nadia's daughter) is 4 years old, she says, " Mom, we have not talked about Putin today." Feb. 15, 2012
"Gera: Putin will come and eat all of our meals " Feb. 14, 2012
And now, after almost two years on Dec. 22, 2013 :
"Mordovia will get what it deserves, so fasten your seatbelt."
The work of a human rights organization against violations of Mordovian prisons and the restructuring of prisons in Russia has officially begun. Join in!!!
Andrey Tolokonnikova, M.D., father of recently released Pussy Riot prisoner, Nadia Tolokonnikova, shares with The Huffington Post his journal from the days following his daughter's homecoming from prison in Siberia. Nadia was freed under an amnesty bill passed by the Russian parliament last week. Translated by Natasha Fissiak, a producer of the documentary Free Pussy Riot!