Russian politicians and activists recognised as political prisoners by the human rights organisation Memorial have declared a one-day hunger strike on Monday to mark the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repressions.
The annual day on which the victims of Soviet political repression are remembered and mourned in Russia was adopted by the Supreme Soviet of Russia in 1991.
In a statement released earlier this month, jailed opposition politician Alexey Navalny said the holiday had been named at a time when “there were no more political prisoners in Russia”. However, amid the liquidation of Memorial by the Russian authorities “there are political prisoners again, and quite a lot of them”, Navalny continued, before calling on other political prisoners and anyone who wanted to show their support to join the hunger strike.
Russian politicians and activists taking part in the hunger strike include Navalny’s fellow jailed opposition politicians Vladimir Kara-Murza and Ilya Yashin, among others.
According to one recent estimate, there are currently as many as 807 political prisoners in the country.
