Invitation: Public lecture by Lyudmila Alexeyeva and discussion on the situation in Russia

Thursday, 11 March, at 2pm in the Hansa hall of the Radisson BLU conference centre (Rävala pst. 3, Tallinn)

Register here www.oef.org.ee/register  (until 8 March)

Lyudmila Alexeyeva: “I would call the Internet the samizdat of the science and technology revolution. The Internet can do what samizdat did on a level a countless number of times greater. Not a thousand times greater; more like a million. The Internet represents a truly astonishing change in today’s world; it has rendered totalitarian regimes nearly impossible, for totalitarian regimes are not possible as long as alternative information and ideas are not completely prohibited.”

How is it possible, then, that regardless of the freedom on the Internet, Russia is still ruled by an authoritarian regime where the majority of the media is under direct state-control and systematic human rights violations take place with the knowing approval of the rulers and the tacit consent of a silent majority? Why do Russia’s people not make sufficient use of the freedom of the Internet to defend their country and people’s liberty? One of Russia’s most recognized champions of human rights, Lyudmila Alexeyeva will discuss these and many other dilemmas. Her presentation will analyze the latest political developments in Russia and the situation facing freedom of speech and media freedom, and provide an overview of the status of human rights in Russia. The lecture will be followed by a debate with the director of the Baltic Centre for Russian Studies, Vladimir Juškin, and the director of Open Estonia Foundation, Mall Hellam.

Born in 1927, Alexeyeva is a recognized Russian historian and former Soviet dissident, who like many in her generation is associated with what is considered the flagship of samizdat, the underground bulletin Chronicle of Current Events (Хроника текущих событий). Along with Andrei Sakharov and other human rights activists, she was one of the founders and leaders of the Moscow Helsinki group. In forced exile in the United States, Alexeyeva penned the first history of the dissident movement in the USSR and today she continues to support efforts to document groundless persecution of dissidents.

Now in her eighties, Alexeyeva continues to participate actively in the activities of many human rights organizations and is in attendance at most of their street demonstrations. For her work in the defence of human rights and freedom of speech, Alexeyeva in 2009 received the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought together with her colleagues from the Russian human rights organization Memorial.

On her visit, Alexeyeva will meet Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Riigikogu members and former Estonian dissidents. The public discussion with Alexeyeva is the first instalment in the Russian Voices series of discussions and meetings that will run throughout 2010, dedicated to analyzing the political and human rights situation in Russia through the minds of well-known Russian intellectuals, civic activists and human rights advocates.

More information:

Kelly Grossthal
tel. 6313791,
mob 53312300
kelly@oef.org.ee

Media:

Maarja Toots
tel. 6313791,
mob 57403932
maarja@oef.org.ee