While there has been more than enough news out of Moscow this week on a variety of issues, none of it has concerned the political prisoners being held hostage throughout Russia, which is a mixed blessing: While there is no word of new arrests, neither is there news of any further releases.

So I will use this quiet moment to mention once again Nika Novak, a Russian journalist who has been held for more than a year on bogus charges of “confidential cooperation with a foreign state, international or foreign organization.”

Last week I reported that she had been transferred to a prison in Novosibirsk, which was described as worse than any of the other facilities she has been held in to date. Since that latest transfer, she has been sharing a noisy and chaotic cell with ten other inmates facing a variety of criminal charges, and has stopped eating as a result of stress and fear . . . despite having been recognized by Russian human rights group Memorial as a political prisoner.

Novak’s lawyers have filed a motion to have her moved to a different cell, on the basis of provisions of Russian law stating that prisoners like Novak should be kept separate from others accused of serious, non-political, often violent crimes including murder.

The appeal of her sentence is scheduled to be heard in Novosibirsk on March 24th. In the meantime, she is packed in with hardened criminals pending a decision on her attorneys’ motion.

I have seen no updates on her situation during the past week, but will be watching closely for word of the result of her appeal eight days from now.

*. *. *

In the meantime, we remember all of those on our list of unjustly held hostages in Vladimir Putin’s GULAG of penal colonies:

David Barnes
Ales Bialiatski (in Belarus)
Gordon Black
Andrei Chapiuk (in Belarus)
Robert Gilman
Stephen James Hubbard
Ksenia Karelina
Ihar Karney (in Belarus)
Vadim Kobzev
Uladzimir Labkovich (in Belarus)
Michael Travis Leake
Aleksei Liptser
Ihar Losik (in Belarus)
Daniel Martindale
Farid Mehralizada (in Azerbaijan)
Nika Novak
Marfa Rabkova (in Belarus)
Igor Sergunin
Dmitry Shatresov
Robert Shonov
Eugene Spector
Valiantsin Stafanovic (in Belarus)
Siarhei Tsikhanouski (in Belarus)
Laurent Vinatier
Robert Romanov Woodland
Vladislav Yesypenko (in Crimea)
Yuras Zyankovich (in Belarus)

*. *. *

And — like a broken record — I again offer this plea to Donald Trump in the White House . . . though I fear it will likely continue to fall on deaf ears, as it has thus far:

“Amidst all of the hubbub of your new administration, it is imperative that these innocent men and women not be forgotten. Negotiations for their safe release have been underway for some time. President Joe Biden succeeded in bringing home 16 innocent people on August 1st of last year, and you have added two others to that list. But you should be trying to do even more. Whatever else you do, this should be high on your list of priorities. The people you promised to represent are counting on you.

“Perhaps this would be an appropriate time to remind you also of the oath you swore on January 20th:

“‘I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.’

“I’m sure there’s a copy of that Constitution lying around the White House. If not, you can Google it. This is what it looks like, in case you’ve forgotten.”

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
3/16/25