On the occasion of Havel@80, to commemorate what would have been the late President Vaclav Havel's 80th birthday, RFE/RL is publishing a collection of letters addressed to him and his memory written by young journalists from Eastern and Central Europe and Russia. The letters express a legacy of inspiration and hope. From RFE/RL and all independent journalists working to support media freedom, we wish you Happy Birthday, Mr. President!
June 2015
Dear Mr. Havel,
It is no secret that the drastic moments in politics sometimes draw a very vivid line between the oppressed and the oppressors, the rebels and the collaborators of the regimes etc. In Armenia, 2008 marked such a line. After the ruling authorities forged the presidential elections, killed 10 of the protestors in the Freedom square, political organizations had to either remain silent or condemn what was done. All were united for human rights, for freedom of expression. For most, that was the start of becoming politically mature. However, now the civil society seems often guided not by the universal human rights principles, but by other things, i.e. fears for harming their reputation. An illustration of this change is the observation of the political statements of Armenian political parties regarding the arrest and imprisonment of an oppositionist, a dissident Shant Harutyunyan. Socialists and liberals turned a blind eye towards the new political prisoner because he was a nationalist. Shant was arrested on charges of attempted revolution, disposed to harsh treatment by the police and was sentenced to 6 years of imprisonment. Another example of civil society fearing the label of nationalist is the refusal of touching the issue of the Armenian Genocide Centennial. Most of the civil society considers the issue the monopoly of the ruling authorities. However, nationalistic stance or avoiding it are not the only way to approach the crime of Genocide? Examples of nonobjectivity are widespread, but I am worried about this not merely as a journalist. The civil society we created is very precious for our new republic. It has to be wise enough not to succumb to manipulations, to be self-reflective, principled, fearless, provoking, and not self-restrictive in terminology.
Yours truly,
Knar
June 2015
Dear Vaclav,
Today is Sunday. I’m writing poetry, drinking coffee and longing for upcoming days bringing new perspective for my country. I contemplate on the future and see a completely different Armenia with a developed economy, pluralism of opinions and freedom of expression. I am content. Have already finished the poetry. Sending it to you.
the issue of development of armenia
through the fear of my neighbor in front of our entrance I didn't dare to enter my full 20 square
meter study
which belonged to me upon the right of ownership
a four-page document I had
where it was written black on white
and not to open the shelve and take off the passport of my room every time
I stuck its copy right on the entrance
where with the same tint of black on milk-white it was written
issued to me
with the right of ownership
for uncompensated use
and any other delirious activities
signature
the thickheaded boss of cadastre
and since the day I pasted that piece of paper to the entrance
I was trying to feel myself a bit courageous
but, alas, my hopes were vain
since and hence
it was just yesterday
when my neighbor invaded to my house without invitation
threw a glance at the high-heeled shoes on the commode
at the short skirt thrown aside
whirled up her eyes on me
having in mind the apparent suspicion of my being a whore
asked the same question yet again and her eye on the side of my room
abandoned my place silently
slammed the door, to be more exact
but precisely a day before
when I opened the entrance door quietly trying to nip through the gap
I didn’t manage
since and hence
the other neighbor opened the door immediately
took out an exactly 20 cm square note book from her bosom and put down a regular tick in front of
my widely open eyes
then turned her back victoriously and slammed the door
and yet, from the gap
I managed to see cups
lined up on the kitchen wall
stuck on vertically on the common partition with my own room
the cups yonder
which refused to obey the universal law of gravitation and didn’t fall on the floor
the cups brute
through fear of which I couldn’t enter my own room
the cups dirty
which fixed every whisper heard in my house
and knew even the hour of my going to the lavatory and the type of the excrements
the cups sublime
which were part of my identity
though I couldn’t stand the words identity and armenianness
which, undoubtedly, beholdingly and willingly
were in the Armenian dictionary
laid on the fourth shelf from top of the bookcase against another wall of the same room
and didn’t I contemplate all these thoughts
I had
standing in front of the door
with my longing glance toward the study
when suddenly with an expression of adulation and badly hidden fabrication on her face
my vigilant neighbor burst in out of the partition
and standing right in the geometric center of my room
threw her arm spread hands toward myself
come
come home
said my trot
and from her behind emerged all neighbors
relatives
split into smaller groups
subgroups and boards
acting within these groups
classified by thousands of subregulations
come
come home
my trot repeated
yet I asked
if the cups don't obey the universal law of gravitation
I learned it on the sixth grade
and boned up on the law of energy conservation as well
which stipulated to send all these human groups to the hell and shut the door until I find my own group
Sincerely yours,
Taisha
04/07/2014
Dear Sir,
Let me begin with a simple thank you for your life, for your story and above all, for sharing your extraordinary experience with the rest of the world and not being afraid of taking the path you took. Your life and the choices you made have inspired many, including me. You have left a legacy behind and a belief, that change is possible.
Back home where I am from, being a dissident voice has great repercussions; prison sentences being one of them. There are some other forms of silencing independent voices- blackmail, intimidation, harassment and fear. I am not afraid of being among those very few individuals who are not scared of these repercussions. Although sometimes I have felt the urge to leave everything behind- to give up on the struggle and walk away. It is at times like these, I think of the will people like you had within. And it is this knowledge that keeps me going- determined to see the change that you once saw in your country.
As a journalist (and a blogger) it has become a responsibility to write about what is happening back home, about the unjust court decisions against activists and the silencing of advocates and freedom of expression fighters. If you listen to our government, we all are hooligans, drug abusers and chauvinists. If you listen to us, well, our opinions differ greatly.
Just like you describe in “The Power of the Powerless,” people like me didn’t decide to become a dissident voice. The circumstances did. The existing repression, intimidation, and the political regression of Azerbaijan, is why I write today, free from propaganda and immune to brainwashing. Free for now.
Sincerely one of your long time admirers from Azerbaijan,
Arzu Geybullayeva
30/05/2015
Dear Vaclav,
These days I have plenty of time to read and to write; I am in prison. Everyone is in prison in this country; mine is a bit tiny. Here I analyze my thoughts and doubts. Considering the similarities between post-communist Azerbaijan and communist Czechoslovakia, whom better to address my doubts to but the revolutionary who went through all this and emerged victorious?
Journalist, bloggers, students etc. have been jailed in Azerbaijan because of their ideas. TV channels circulate lies about us, about the government, about the world. Nevertheless, it is not that I am afraid. Because, this is the very nature of the authoritarian regime and we know against what we decided to stand. It is the people that terrify me. Ordinary citizens whose life’s are in misery see us as agents, criminals and parvenus who have nothing to do but to blacken our state.
Are these people worth the suffering of the journalist Khadija Ismayil, who went under dirty accusations and was imprisoned? Or Rashadat Akhundov, who has to spend 8 years apart from his newborn child because he was demanding transparency in the National Army?
When I asked "how could you deal with your parents?" the former Solidarnost member K.Hagemejer answered: “Our parents, relatives, knew our cause. They even helped us. It was the Solidarity among people.” But how to solidify people?
In a country where even mothers whose sons are killed in the Army can be silenced, what are the ways to make people take action? How to make them at least read your essay “The Power of the Powerless” if people literally hate reading?
Dear Vaclav, if you get this letter through prison, uncut and unedited, you will understand– it means, there is still hope.
See you in a Free World!
Aziz Karimov
June 2015
Mr. President Havel!
I am from Azerbaijan. The former republic of the Soviet Union. We - the people of Azerbaijan, established a democratic parliamentary republic in 1918. It was the first such incident in the East. But the invasion of Soviet Russia destroyed our first republic. Our freedom and ideas did not die. We established a second republic in 1991, about the same time you did. But our democratically elected government lasted only 1 year. In 1993, the former KGB (the Committee for State Security) leader, Haydar Aliev, seized power with the help of a military coup. Now his son rules the government. Azerbaijan is the third neo-monarchy "republic" in the world and also an oil country. As the money of our government increased, they reduced our rights, including the media, and freedom of expression.
In 2005 courageous journalist Elmar Huseynov was thrown out of his house in front of the building where he lives. In 2007, 14 journalists were arrested. In 2011, another journalist - Rafig Taghi was killed. For years, newspapers and websites were silenced and purchased while journalists were killed, beaten, thrown in jail and expelled from the country.
As a result, the country - the oldest democracy in the East, has set up 1 opposition newspaper and several independent websites. Prisons and jails are full of journalists and bloggers. Our values, which gain support from Europe and the democratic West, are violated.
Our freedom-loving, democratic nation, which has set up 2 democratic republics and repeatedly participated in revolutions, is no longer expecting anything from Europe. We just want Europe not to be deceived by our criminal, oligarchic, mafia government. Democratically elected European parliamentarians, in order to get more bribes, are voting against heroic fighters of civil society.
Mr. Havel! You also came up from former totalitarian socialist system as we are now. However, the democratization happened in Eastern Europe, which is closer to Western Europe. We are late. Therefore, our journalists are in prison as is our freedom of expression. Eastern Europe passed this period in a very short time. That's why we need your support, as people realize that the people in the Caucasus do not have freedom to defend their press.
Your "Power of the Powerless" and "Anatomy of Silence" were translated into Azerbaijani by an organization which I was a member We have already read them and do not remain silent, we believe in our strength.
Zaur Gurbanli
June 2014
Dear Mr. Havel,
One of your last letters was addressed to Ales Bialiatski, Head of the Belarusian Human Rights Centre in Viasna and Vice President of the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH). He was then in prison on charge of tax evasion.
On June, 21 2014 Bialiatski was freed early. He started his first press conference with the words: 'It is normal to serve a term for a democratic independent Belarus.' Ales spent almost three years in jail, and these words were voiced on the third day after his release.
Prison has not changed Ales; he keeps joking and does not complain. But it is well known that moral pressure was put on him. Behind bars the multiple Nobel Peace Prize candidate was a 'gross violator of the prison regime' – this status was given, among other things, because he took a piece of bread out of the canteen. Bialiatski was prohibited from seeing his relatives. A number of food products in his parcels were cut, which deprived him of the only opportunity to get a minimum of vitamins; prison meals lack them.
According to all political prisoners, the confinement conditions in Belarusian penitentiary facilities are next to torture: malnutrition, cold, deficiency of qualified medical aid, illnesses. There is still tuberculosis in Belarusian prisons in the 21st century.
I have had conversations with many former political prisoners, for example, with Zmitser Dashkevich, who got through punishment cells, torture and threats. Journalists must tell more about atrocities of jail so that the situation of both political and 'common' prisoners would change, he says. Even if someone committed a crime, they should not be tortured. Information is both arms and armour, and I am sure that distributing true and unbiased data will protect even those people whose basic rights are violated in the name of law.
Sincerely,
Hanna Liubakova
June 2015
Dear Václav Havel,
I would like to tell you about Belarus. Belarus - is a fascinating country in the heart of Europe. We have a lot - ancient history, wonderful people and the desire to be part of Europe.
20 years ago, all this was taken from us. 20 years ago we lost our national symbols, language and hopes for a European future. A lot of people tried to fight, and we managed to defend the independence of our country. But we lost freedom. But we have not lost hope.
I know you have experienced something similar. You were a leader of the peaceful Velvet Revolution in 1989. Your example makes all of us not to lose heart. Your example inspires many people around the world to defend their rights. Your life and actions affected almost everyone in the Czech Republic and were widely noticed around the world. You gave something to the people, something very important: hope for changes.
We dream to give ourselves hope. To stop dreaming - well, that’s like saying you can never change your fate. And I really hope that your example will inspire many Belarusians. I believe we'll return everything that was lost.
Thanks for giving hope.
Ihar Losik
June 2015
Times have become more cynical, I do not know whether more so than when Havel wrote to his wife from prison. You feel time personally and it’s impossible to compare feelings. So, I personally feel that everything has become bad and cynic. There are no things to believe, though much things are easier. Less prisons, less borders, more money and people even live longer.
I should write something important here. And I was thinking about it in the last few days. I read Havel’s letter to Olga, listened to some of his speeches and thought that it’s not necessary to write something special if you aren’t able. Yes, there were times and I also believed in something and a few years ago, I probably was able to write enthusiastically about our desire for freedom, the importance of a strong identity and similarities between the Czech Republic and Belarus. Now I don’t think it is relevant, to say this every time.
It turned out that you need to earn money, which is very nice when you can combine business with pleasure and make useful things for others. But you first. I do not deny the significance and importance, but you are thinking about yourself applying for jobs or internships.
I don’t know how Vaclav Havel was able to find landmarks in the darkness. It seems for me it was easier, when I was 16 and the world was simpler. But now I am thinking about this fellowship as an opportunity to work. Yes, there other opportunities and to be a journalist in a nondemocratic country is not the best thing. And it is not always only a job, but still, it is just a job with all typical things.
I thought, of course, about writing on the issue of democracy and values, but honesty is also a value. Where it all starts. Only the truth can be interesting. In some way Vaclav Havel taught me and I hope, some day, I can teach someone else. And this is the truth.
Ivan Shyla
June 2016
Dear Mr. Havel,
My name is Victor and I am writing to you from Belarus, one of the former Soviet Republics. The Soviet Union fell many years ago, but we still have problems with human rights, openness, freedom and democracy. Yes, our wellbeing has increased, but we haven’t become free because of this.
Every day our mass media turns to propaganda. People don’t hear much truth, propaganda kills their ability to think and understand the time and the world they live in. It makes them passive and lazy and finally, they lose interest in life, any social activity and changes leading to reforms. Their attitudes and opinions are formed by official TV and the press controlled by official institutions.
The world we live in is a pack with lies. Everything is based on deception. We are not defended against this huge machine of authorities, corruption, bureaucracy and social inequality.
I believe human rights are a universal possession and each person taken separately should have the freedom to exercise this right.
Therefore the responsibility of a reporter is to give a balanced picture of the situation showing an unbiased attitude to it. Objective information helps citizens to live in peace and move towards democratic institutions. By itself, journalism cannot end conflicts and disagreements, but it can influence the moral climate in the country and lessen misunderstanding, creating conditions for further democratic changes. I believe all people have the right to know all the truth and a variety of existing views on the problem.
So I would like to become this kind of reporter, a stronger man who is not afraid of expressing himself and defending his point of view. I wish I had more confidence to do what I hope to achieve.
Yours sincerely,
Victor.
June 2016
Dear Mr. Havel,
Late 80s, Tbilisi - in the old city, which is now the most popular place for tourists, a group of young men used to gather almost every evening at the house where one of the most active young dissident lived with his wife and newborn daughter.
These young men were members of National Movement and they were about to fight for freedom. Not with guns, but with strong will and determination. The young dissident chose probably quite a symbolic place to hide first banners and placards demanding freedom - under the bed of the baby girl, who, whatever it would cost, should grow up in independent Georgia. Next year the fight for freedom became hasher. After two years they won.
The young men hiding placards under his daughter’s bed was my father. This is how he handed over a free country to my generation, which has its own challenges now.
We gained independence 25 years ago. In the country built on the Soviet ruins, it seems like society is still going in locked circles, searching for Messiah, a person who will solve all their problems. Well… Welcome to Stalin’s homeland, the country where we are still confused what to do with the Soviet leader’s statue in his home town Gori (your opinion on this issue would be very interesting).
And where do we, journalists, stand here? In the center, I guess. We should remind society that people are decision makers, not one particular leader; governments should be accountable for them. But what is the road from independence, to the freedom of society? How should media raise its public? What are the best tools for this? How can we break the circles and move forward with the same will that made us all independent once?
Sincerely
Sophio, from Georgia
June 2016
Dear Mr. Havel,
It’s a great chance to write to you. I’d like to make a good impression on you, to look intelligent, promising and smart. Much more than I really am.
A friend of mine told me once how during the Russian-Georgian conflict in 2008 some journalists were clearly ‘unsatisfied’ because there were ‘few dead’ there. More numbers were needed for major effect, major scandal. I was very young at that time. I remember well the war but not the media hysteria of those days.
How can the young journalists respect the right values in a job which is focused only on ‘effects,’ ‘shocks,’ and ‘scandals’? How can the dignity be maintained in a world where the words like ‘marketable,’ ‘high rated,’ ‘competitive’ command and ‘wealth’ are measured only in numbers?
I don’t want to live in a society where the main ‘motto’ is ‘the market will regulate it.’ How to stay ‘on the market’ but not undergo only to market rules? How to be ‘competitive,’ but disrespecting the wild competition rules? How to be highly ‘demanded,’ but disrespecting the supply-and-demand rules?
Roland Barthes said, “Literature is the question minus the answer.” Good job, Barthes: only readers know what it is: emotions, impressions, sadness, joy, enrichment, happiness and many other things which stay with you after you get the answer. It’s so intangible and so clear at the same time. I would love to find some Barthesian definition of journalism, but I am 24 years old and have many questions and few answers for the moment. I just feel that the right definition of journalism is a common answer to this confused bunch of questions I have in my head and which I shared with you above.
I am sure you have some good answers for me. I can’t wait to know them. Thank you,
Yours,
S. A.
June 2016
Dear Mr. Havel,
This letter is for a MAN who inspires me and fascinates me, so it is my pleasure to write a letter to A MAN who showed to the world that revolution isn’t always bloody and full of drama. It can be velvet and inspiring, unite nations together even in difficult situations; Not only taking the right course for development, but also inspire other countries for resistance. The most breathtaking fact here is that all this could be started with the simple combination of paper, pen and courage.
And yes YOU DID IT!
Of course I realize that my letter is one of hundreds and thousands you receive every year and even if you won’t be able to read it, I’m happy to write it because I believe that it is important to be able to write and speak, even when there is no one to hear this. Silence is where things start to reverse.
Hello, my dear Vaclav,
let me shortly introduce myself, I am Mari, 23 young enthusiast from Georgia, who has just started her first steps in the long way to journalism, as you once said “ It is not enough to stare up the steps, we must step up the stairs” - So am I. So does my country, we have alike history as our countries were under the fist of the same ruler. Today, 25 years after the dissolution of the USSR, where now I live in an independence state, my country is facing new challenges and aspirations. I need inspiration and directions from you dear friend – now at this moment -to be one of those who brings the change. Today I see indifferent people, nihilists who do not care if the world goes wrong, but then there is you- a lighthouse who give me the power to step forward and make a change in my own work, in her majestic Journalism.
With best regards
M. M.
Chisinau, 05.06.2016
Dear Mr. Vaclav Havel,
I was walking today and thinking about what democracy means to me when suddenly, I remembered that during one history class our teacher told us that there is no such thing as democracy and that this concept was just a manipulative tool used by politicians in order to gain credentials in front of the electorate. Then I was thinking, if democracy still exists, what will it be for me?
I think democracy is when I go to the market for bread and on the shelve I see four different types of bread of different colors and composition. In that moment I usually think about making the right decision in order to satisfy my family’s alimentary needs. So, democracy is about making choices. Nevertheless, for making choices, there must be something from which to choose. If I will find on the same shelve four identical breads with just different labels, this will not facilitate the election process, because no matter what I will choose, I will be eating the same type of bread. Apparently I am free to make decisions, free to buy whatever I want whenever I want, but in reality, I don’t actually choose something because there are no alternatives. You may have understood by now that I did my best in trying to describe the way mass-media industry works in Moldova.
So my question for you, Mr. Havel, is: what to choose when you don’t have many options and how journalists should unify their forces in order to create quality alternatives for our ultra saturated media market that offers many choices when it comes to numbers of media companies, but practically the same content controlled by the well targeted intentions of powerful Moldovan oligarchs?
Respectfully, Alina Girnet, a young Moldovan journalist
June 2014
Dear President Havel,
Life is all about experiences. One of yours that I admire (and envy) is your prison sentence. It is a kind of an experience that one certainly doesn’t want to have, but anyway he wonders what it would be like. My interest started with Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and how his imprisonment gave us the majestic The Gulag Archipelago, so I hope you won’t mind if I ask about this period of your life. I think that the intimacy with your mind and soul you have in a cell is a rare and special one. You won’t find it in everyday life, with public transport, traffic and grocery lists. Maybe I romanticize it in a way, but I think that this moment of loneliness is when you can really get in touch with your true self. For me, it means that you don’t only start to listen to your inner voice, but also to others’. You genuinely begin to understand people’s needs, meaning behind their words and especially behind their silence.
I can only imagine what it would be like to spend four years in prison. But I want to find out one simple and naive thing: how the notion of freedom changed for you after imprisonment? I think that people who take freedom for granted are reckless and dangerous. They started forgetting that once it had a price that was paid with blood and pain. This is why taking the responsibility for our choices and actions was never more important. If freedom is what makes us human, what happens when others take it from you?
Sincerely,
Natalia Sergheev
June 2016
Dear Mr. Havel,
The first time I heard about you was while I was reading the book “1989 – the final curtain,” in which it described how this year changed Europe as a whole. That year, spring belonged to the Poles, the Summer to the Hungarians and the Baltic States, Autumn to the Germans, Czechs, Slovaks and Bulgarians, and winter to the Romanians. Change was in the air, but one question remained? How?
In our days, the most difficult thing is to get the people involved in something. To make them go into the streets and start to change. It is usually really hard to get 20 people out from their computers, and to make them go to one place and protest. How was it possible, in those dark times, when everything was controlled by the system, to fight against it. Nowadays in our country, when a certain individual has concentrated in his iron fists, nearly three quarters of the media power, it is really difficult to break through and promote one’s message. How was it possible, in such harsh conditions, when everything was controlled by a group of people, in an atmosphere ruled by fear, to make the people fight that system?
Why in those days, did people easily find ways to conquer their fears and now, in our days, people don’t get involved because they might lose their job? This is the most burning question for me. Are the times I am living in not as dark as the times you lived in? How can we conquer our fear of repression and how can we make the people act in the name of democracy, freedom and rule of law?
Sincerely,
Stefan Grigorita
30.05.2015.
I think you perfectly understand that I cannot give you a descent explanation about what I actually do. A lot of things may bring you to a conclusion that journalism as a profession does not exist in my country at all. Well, there are some journalists of course, but they are known by the few who are interested. Unfortunately no fool is interested at all. I would not say that everybody is clinically depressed about such a situation, but I would not say that people are agitated about iteither. There is no motivation to do something or to think through some solutions. There always would be an innocent whose pure feelings you are insulting without any intention. What will you uncover digging this «innocent» a bit deeper? Who knows.
Do you remember how you said in your letter from the prison that the word is the most powerful weapon in non-democratic society? That it becomes more powerful than the whole army of voters and soldiers? I suppose that somebody powerful above us has also read your letters. I can state it as there are so many words around us nowadays that it seems impossible to find those that are true. Among millions of words people listen to and actually here those that were said with the most aplomb and expression. The main issue now is not a word itself, but a tone that represents it. It is not fancy or up-to-date to doubt nowadays. Leaders should be effective and self-assured even if they lead us to the end of time with this effectiveness and assurance.
What is happening, I am asking you? What époque is it now? Why do people ask you whether you are afraid to go abroad (it is a «well-known fact» that Russians are not beloved all over the World) every time you are coming back from a trip? Why do you have to explain every single time that there nobody cares where you came from (even if you are from Russia)? And you have to see their mistrustful facial expressions again, and again, and again. And they tell you that it cannot be, because it can never be! They tell that they saw it on TV that it is Sodom and Gomorra there. Is it another example of revanchism in world history? It seems so. How can we pass this transition period so that we will not regret it after we lost the cold war?
This question is in the air now, and I would not like it to stay hanging in the air.
Alexander Lapshin
June 2016
I've nothing to talk with President Havel. I'd better talk with prisoner Havel.
Once upon a springtime there were thousands of us. We walked along Nevsky Avenue, played football with police helmets and shouted something abstract about freedom. We had broken through three cordons before they threw us into the prison cells.
I listened how someone was constantly beaten behind the wall, I breathed in the smell of forty cellmates, groped steel bars and thought: Well, I am at home. Nothing has changed. We have always lived this way.
We’re here, Mr. Havel, we are born and we die in a cell. The thinnest bars are censorship; it can be easily deceived. The thicker bars are our ignorance. The thickest ones are our origin. Mr. Havel, our social elevators only go down.
I cannot understand Havel, who ruled the Czech Republic for ten years. But Havel, who spent four years behind the bars, would understand me.
We have something in common; it is the cell bars. Originally me and you are from the region full of bars. This region called Europe. Your Europe was wild yesterday, but civilized today. My Europe was civilized yesterday, but wild today.
In our Europe everything changes rapidly. A lot has been happening over the last five years while you were out of office. The chief supervisor in our prison of nations reached out with his fists for other nearby prisons and now a hopelessly high blockade is growing between us. Seniors of your cell are ready to enclose Europe with a barb wire as well.
But let's talk about good things. I was released that spring. I got off with a fine became I’m a journalist, and saved for a living to come to Prague. It felt like home in St. Petersburg: plenty of water, eccentrics and modernity. And there was something in the air, something what I felt that spring, when we were fighting with the police. Not even freedom. A hope for freedom.
I was standing in Prague's garden the name of which I have already forgotten, touching the beautiful cast-iron gate and thinking that these are the last bars I agree to accept.
Evgeny Babushkin
June 2014
Dear pan Havel,
You are famous as a person who did his best to bring freedom to Czechoslovakia. That was a time when European states were freed from totalitarian regimes. Russia was also moving towards that direction. Did you think that soon, most Russians will dream to come back to those times and restore imperial influence?
It seemed everyone finally realized that core values are the same everywhere. They are level of life, freedom and respect for self and others. It’s ‘live and let live.’ As it turned out, my own nation didn’t fight for freedom in the 1980s – it just fought for food. Could you imagine, that after being fed, most Russians only recalled all old grudges and ghosts from past? That they, including elders, didn’t learn lessons at all, thinking the country collapsed because of external enemies, not mistakes of leaders and the people who didn’t care about their country?
Why do some raise patriotism not through the love of their country, but by hatred of others?
Could you imagine just 4 years ago, one major ex-USSR republic seized land from another by military force, not taking into account the world’s opinion, the end of fraternal friendship, nor potential problems with one’s own lands after this precedent?
As a citizen of this country, I’m lost. I have no answers to most questions. I am scared that the government is playing such a big game just two decades after a serious and painful lesson. And it’s doing that instead of educating people, making them free and respecting each other.
“In non-democratic conditions, the word gets far greater force than an army of voters or soldiers,” you wrote in one of your letters from prison. I am a guy with words, but is there really anything I can do to withstand?
Evgeny Kuzmin
June 2016
Dear Mr. President,
I am writing to you from Russia, being in desperate need. Last month our media had again strong upheaval – top editors of the media group RBC have been fired. It is one of the few independent media remaining here. Now the number of them remaining is no more than the fingers, fortunately, of two hands. Will the headless RBC stay incorruptible? Hardly. It was precisely planned to dampen the ardor of inquisitive journalists. Most people understand it was spite of the Kremlin that provoked the RBC investigations. Many informed sources say it. Moreover, common sense tells us the same. The professional communities admired the bold articles of RBC about close relatives of president Putin and about the “Panama papers” as well. We all admired, but at the same time, we intuitively knew that it is a game with edged tools. The Russian government prefers to turn a blind eye to its problems and instead to struggle with some imaginary enemies. How can we get any opportunity to do journalism within our country, not leaving it to Latvia or the USA, as our colleagues had to do?
You know firsthand what it is like to be an independent writer while the society lives under the total control of the political elite being insane with its power. You were successful in waking up the Czech society. Do you think that it is possible to make our people be convinced that the Russian democracy is feigned?
Once you wrote in a letter to Dr. Husák about your fears of “long-lasting consequences of violent abuses for the whole nation”. When I see who is being elected in the Russian primaries, when I read their illogical speeches, I fear the same – such managers are leading our country by the way of degradation, and Russia is still the same “Absurdistan” as you called the Soviet Union. Or even worse and more dangerous. Can we, journalists, persuade the society that we are able to choose another way? I hope that we still can.
I would like to thank you for being a conscientious president free of prejudices. As I saw when I was in the Czech Republic, your country is proud of you.
Respectfully,
Ksenia Churmanova
St. Petersburg
June 2015
Dear Vaclav,
You really know how it feels to be imprisoned just for having opinions someone didn’t like. I am a lucky person compared to you because I’ve never even been arrested. But that’s true only on a physical level. I still feel that I’m trapped in some grotesque surreal word, which is actually called the Russian Federation.
There are two realities in my country. In one, independent journalists report about Russian soldiers dying and being captured in Ukraine. In the other, state media claims that there were never any soldiers and those dead people were just volunteers. In one reality I see completely falsified elections where young opposition leaders didn’t even had the chance. In another reality my country is still called a democratic republic.
Shortly before your death you wrote that the biggest threat to Russia would be the indifference and apathy of people. But you passed away in December 2011 and since then, all we feared has already happened. And even more. Turns out that indifferent people are not the worst. Because right now we have people that care too much. They care about the evil West («It wants to destroy Russia!”), about feelings of believers («Those people insult the church!”), about Ukraine (“Fascists took power there!”), about opposition («They’re criminals and live on USA money!») and about gay people (“They are sick and wrong and shouldn’t exist!”).
There’s no more indifference. Just pure old hatred. You can feel it everywhere. How can we go on living with all that? I know that you believed in your country and in your people even in the darkest times. I want to ask you how not to give up, not to lose faith in a good ending. It’s really hard to see the light in the end of a tunnel. Does it exist?
Sincerely,
Sofia
June 2014
Dear Vaclav Havel,
I am writing to you at a time when my country faces great peril. Ukraine has been struggling to become an economically successful and democratic country since 1991. But like all post-communist countries, it has faced corrupted governments. The protests that began on November 21st 2013 in Kiev demanded a better Ukraine with European standards including a good standard of living, rule of law and better trade possibilities.
When Czechoslovakia was fighting for similar ideals you co-funded Charter 77 and raised world-wide awareness about how the government’s constitution of 1960 violated human rights.
Ukraine has had several ‘revolutions’ since the fall of Communist, yet after each one the government fell back to its old ways. So I wanted to ask you how you did it – how did you help successfully bring democracy to your country? How did you, as a single person, influence and change the lives of so many?
It must have required a lot of bravery for you to speak up and take the lead. In an attempt to raise awareness about my country’s situation, I was faced with many insults. In an article published about the money I raised for Ukrainian refugees in Prague, only one out of seventy comments was positive. How did you rise past those who tried to bring you down?
I have been hearing stories of your accomplishments for as long as I can remember. I would love to know what you would do if your country was divided. How would you battle the lies spread to keep your people in the dark? Charter 77 had not only changed the world in 1980, but its ideas continue to change mine. I hope that Ukraine will grow from it too.
Best regards,
Olena Kagui
June 2016
Dear Vaclav Havel,
My name is Olena Vlasenko and I am a reporter from Ukraine. Following and considering the spectrum of people’s moods and public sentiments is part of my professional responsibility. That is why I would like to draw your attention to discontent flares of the authorities in my country and share with you my observations about everlasting winter of mistrust in a society.
The majority of Ukrainians have a clear, evident opinion that politics and human dignity are totally opposite things that have nothing in common. The consequences of the Revolution of Dignity at Maidan, annexed Crimean peninsula, war conflict in Eastern Ukraine, pervasive corruption, poor national reforms and #Panama-Papers story related to the Ukrainian President’s secret offshore firm all enhanced societies disappointment in the political system. President Poroshenko progressed in some issues including: external and defense policies, stopped the escalation in Donbas, went far with EU visa-free processes and formed the national army. Ukraine’s vivid changes are still too slow for those who constantly lose their beloved ones. On the other hand, current demand and expectation of the society to state officials are higher than they were before revolutionary events. A young generation of goal-oriented activists is growing – they are ready to work, use their expertise to perceive new vectors, and be outside old corruption schemes.
Dear Mr. Havel, would the trust be returned if the President went to work by bicycle as you did, gave speeches filled with less clichés, or achieved more results? It looks like Ukrainians lost their hope, but I strongly believe there are still words my people will say. They will sound and a spring of changes will come in Ukraine one day. And I know you support me as you have already passed it all.
Looking forward to getting a feedback,
Respectfully,
Olena Vlasenko
June 2014
Dear Mr. President,
I do want to thank you for all that you’ve done for supporting democracy and journalists from various countries. I do hope, someday, that the true freedom of speech you were fighting for will not have boarders and conditions.
Following your principles, we’ve done much in my native Ukraine too. This winter we had a real Revolution of Dignity – when citizens of different educational levels and income realized that freedom, truth and transparency value much more than money, even more than a life.
Despite being a journalist, I was scared, I must confess. Especially, when thinking of my little child, who was watching his mom making a living from the fired Hrushevskoho street or the Independence Square, when “bercut” was beating the civil activists. Sure, I was scared for him when armed police were stopping me near my home after critical reports.
But much more, I was scared of what would be with my child, if I wouldn’t say what I must. In what country he would live than? I don’t want him to live in fraud, corruption and repressions, and to be a slave of the power-having overlords. Yes, I still believe in objective press without pressure and propaganda and I believe it will be functioning in Ukraine as a rule, not as an exception – as it remains now, unfortunately. I believe in this because I have bright examples such as you and the people following you. I am inspired by your work and its results in the Czech Republic.
And you know what, the freedom won against repression in Kyiv. I believe it will win in all of the Ukraine.
Perhaps, you’ll think I’m too idealistic for my age. But I’m sure, you’ll understand me.
Thank you very much again.
Faithfully Yours,
Olga
June 2015
Vážený pane Gavel, velmishanovny pane, urmetli Vaclav Bay, dear Mr. Havel!
My name is Safie, I'm from Crimea. My work record book states that I am a journalist, in fact I am not. It doesn’t mean that I’m not confident in my own abilities or I have any inhibitions, I am a quite liberated and confident person. The fact is that I don’t have professional journalistic education. I can say that I’m self-taught. I have quite little experience in the media area, only 4 years, but during this period I’ve made a lot of discoveries for myself. My first chief editor was a famous Ukrainian journalist Osman Pashayev. I conducted research, wrote analytical work, and prepared news items. Since February 2014 I tried myself in live broadcasts. At that time the ATR TV Channel was the only one in Crimea which led live broadcasts from the hottest spots. I saw seizure of state institutions, military units, and airports. Once my camera crew got into the epicenter of a shootout in the center of Simferopol. We were attacked by representatives of the Crimean so-called ‘self-defense’ forces. Our viewers even used to call ATR journalists war reporters because we were constantly surrounded by armed men without identification markings. The most interesting thing was that at the time of the shooting I didn’t feel fear; on the contrary, I felt some crazy eagerness to work. It was like a dream - mad rhythm, sometimes I didn’t have time to look around. Days passed very fast.
After the annexation of Crimea by Russia my professional growth as a journalist just stopped. Now I have no possibility to investigate, to expose officials and politicians. All my attempts are stopped immediately by relevant authorities. The channel management delegated me to the annual big press conference of the Russian President Vladimir Putin. It was organized in Moscow in December 2014. It was attended by more than 200 media entities but only 10% of them could ask questions. As a result of some circumstances, I was among them. As Crimea has become a new subject of the Russian Federation, I was confident that Crimean journalists would be provided an opportunity to ask questions. But they couldn’t do that. During three and a half hours of the conference none of the Crimean journalists could pose a direct question to the President. Then,, I decided to ask a question by any means. I took the microphone at the moment when the chance was given to another journalist. To be honest, I felt no pricks of conscience. I considered it my duty to raise the topic of the Crimean Tatars. And I did it.
Why do I wish to get a fellowship? From April 1, 2015 the current regime closed the ATR TV Channel. I think that now this scholarship is my only chance for self-development, to declare myself as a Crimean journalist. I plan to work for the good of the Crimean Tatar people, and contrary to bureaucrat’s’ wishes, I want to become a true professional. After Crimea’s ‘return to the home harbor,’ independent journalism died in Crimea. Journalists lost their democratic rights. The Crimean Tatars went through a lot of troubles returning to their Homeland and today these people have a feeling of déjà vu.
The 18th of May is well known as a tragic day for the Crimean Tatars - the day of the deportation. Last year the Russian government banned big traditional mourning meeting on the central square of Simferopol. Therefore the Crimean Tatars were forced to gather on the outskirts of the city. But security forces tried to discourage the day of mourning in every possible way. This year, the Crimean government banned meetings anywhere. After coming back to the homeland, the Crimean Tatars were banned to cry. Journalists of the ATR TV Channel were very depressed. I felt mad injustice, but I understand that I could not help anyway. Unfortunately injustice against the Crimean Tatars is a never-ending situation on the Crimean peninsula.
Therefore, if the fellowship is mine this year, I will not miss the chance to absorb all the knowledge like a sponge. I am convinced that this chance for the Crimean journalists is like a breath of fresh air. I know that you believe in the transformational role of journalism in challenging tyranny. I think it's very time-sensitive in my current situation.
Safie Ablyaeva
June 2016
Dear Mr. Havel,
Warmest greetings to you from a curious Ukrainian in the northern most capital. Surprisingly, even Iceland, with its abundance of renewable energy, expresses eagerness to join the rush for black gold. During the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, I met now the ex-PM Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson and asked him why he doesn’t want to push for the unique chance to make their motherland carbon-free. He was perplexed: what for if the others drill?
On every level of governance, we deal with the lack of trust, namely the Prisoner’s dilemma, cooperation of all would be beneficial for all, but if someone is cheating, fair players become losers. Thus, if you question ‘business as usual,’ you are by default ingénue; try your best—and you are wanted.
When addressing humanitarian crisis in your country back in 1990, you blamed the arrogance and intolerance of the preceding ideology. I wonder how come that in Ukraine—after almost 25 years since it became an independent state—many benevolent endeavors are screwed up and turned into farce by exactly these two nefarious traits, which at some point assert themselves?
You gained respect for being truthful and not falling into populism. What would you tell to our prisoners of conscience and opinion-makers who choose the path of a politician?
For my part, as a journalist I reckon that we should restrain from demonizing ‘villains’ and apotheosizing ‘heroes,’ and remind instead, responsibility for each and everyone, which strengthens social cohesion and is precisely what you recommended to do at the stage of transition: perspective and distance. If not a sense of humor, which no one is immune, what is the most genuine agent of real democracy?
Kindest wishes to whenever you happen to be,
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