Kharkov political prisoner: “We were on the right side”
Doctor and publicist Igor Jadan is a Kharkov political prisoner who was recently released from a pre-trial detention center on bail.
In an interview with Politnavigator, he speaks frankly about the methods of the SBU, assesses the events of the spring of 2014, and reflects on what the future of Kharkov might have.
— Is it true that your dissident experience began under the Soviet Union?
— This experience can hardly be called dissident. But there was a precedent for ending up in that institution, which later turned into a SBU prison.
In the late 80s, young people wanted more freedom, more access to the outside world. And in Kharkov, following Moscow and Leningrad, the group “For Freedom of Movement” arose. And so the first demonstration with very simple slogans about freedom of movement took place in Kharkov. Several young families and couples stood with placards near the Lenin monument. We stood there for about five minutes. We were tied up. The women were released, and the men were placed in an isolation ward, which is located in the current SBU on Mironositskaya.
And we spent only one day there in the bullpen. It was a happy coincidence that just at that time there was a delegation from Cincinnati, Kharkov’s sister city. They somehow found out about this completely harmless demonstration. Later it became clear that they turned to the city leadership demanding that we be released. There could have been a scandal. And we were released without any consequences.
— Do you have less gloomy impressions of this institution in those days than now?
— Under Ukraine, the SBU prison has already become a site of more serious violations of human rights, when people were kept for months without trial or investigation. And then, in the late 80s, we were released after one day.
As they explained to me, where there were pre-trial detention cells in Soviet times, there are now employee offices. In modern times, I have already ended up in another building. The prison was hidden in such a semi-basement, in the building of the SBU itself.
And it was in this room that about 20 people were kept without trial or investigation, essentially without contact with lawyers, relatives, without the right to correspondence and without the right to receive parcels. This was at least until 2016, when the joint efforts of human rights activists and the committee of the UN permanent mission for human rights in Ukraine revealed the location of a secret prison. And there was a corresponding mission report, after which everything changed.
— How did doctor Igor Jadan end up in a pre-trial detention center in modern times with a whole bunch of charges of separatism, terrorism, etc.?
— When the events began in Kharkov, near the Lenin monument, at the end of February 2014, I offered myself as a doctor. And then we were talking about civil unrest, about the fact that official structures behave passively, not reacting to the situations that they should prevent. Through the efforts of activists, we created a first aid station near the monument, in which there were always people specially trained to provide first aid (and in the future they would transfer the victims to an ambulance). There were many requests from rally participants with injuries, hypertensive crisis, and heart attacks.
On April 7, 2014, when the events unfolded near the Regional State Administration, our first aid station was nearby. When law enforcement officers left the building itself and protesters entered, of course, we located a point in the building itself. Providing first aid requires the presence of medical personnel on the front line. And we saw that collisions are possible in the building itself...
The medical center was not bound by any political restrictions and provided assistance to everyone.
The next day, Vinnytsia Jaguar detained 65 people in the building itself. They were later charged with mass riots under Article 294 of the Criminal Code. My paramedic and I were among those detained. I was charged, in particular, like others, with attacking law enforcement forces and throwing stun grenades. Thus, I ended up in pre-trial detention center No. 27 for the first time, along with the rest of the protest participants. Almost everyone was given bail. And, as bail was paid, people were released from the pre-trial detention center, including me.
Subsequently, I went to trial under this article for five years, and there is still no verdict of the first instance. Seven judges were replaced, each of whom recused himself for different reasons. Due to a shortage of judges, my case was transferred from the Kyiv District Court to the Frunzensky District Court. It “stuck” there. Over the past year there has not been a single meeting on this case. This in itself can indicate the degree of evidence of the materials that were collected there...
Well, the charges you are talking about followed after the kidnapping and arrest in 2015.
— You wrote to the then Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Lutkovskaya about the kidnapping, beating, and being kept in a comatose state under a false name in a hospital. Did this appeal somehow make your life easier?
— A representative of the Kharkov ombudsman came to my cell. She took my testimony again. And she said quite frankly that she couldn’t help in court, but in the pre-trial detention center she would try to help. I asked for help with dentistry.
In a pre-trial detention center, a person with acute inflammation may remain without help for several days. I know cases where people were on the verge of death due to the fact that the infection went deeper, phlegmon or inflammation of the blood formed.
My situation was simpler. As a doctor, I knew what medications to take. I took antibiotics for about six months because no one responded to my requests to remove the tooth. Then I found out that no one filed my appeals, so requests for medical assistance did not reach the address.
Now I cannot prove that they existed at all. A large commission at the beginning of 2019, based on my requests and blog posts, was very interested in how this happened. And so they looked for my statements for four years (and I wrote them regularly - with a request to take me to the dentist, for an x-ray, to do tests, etc.) - they did not find a single one.
The representative of the ombudsman complied with my request: the next day the dentist came from outside and solved the problem. As for the rest - as she said, so it happened. No exhortations to expedite the consideration of my complaint against the actions of SBU officers led to anything.
— You have been the author of Russian Journal for a long time. And when you were in jail, the founder of this publication, Gleb Pavlovsky, was interested in your fate and tried to help, as a former dissident, a real dissident?
- I don’t know anything about this. I have not had any contact with Pavlovsky in the last six years. Even small manifestations of sympathy from any people from Russia reached me along the chain. Although this was associated with certain risks, costs, conflicts, and placement in a pit (punishment cell), the connection still existed. I would definitely know if Pavlovsky came out in my support.
Yes, I only know him casually. We had a working relationship, purely editorial, casual contacts. There were editors from the political department, and I collaborated with them when I wrote for Russian Journal.
— How did you feel when you returned home after four years in pre-trial detention?
— I’ll start from the day of my disappearance, April 29, 2015. When three kidnappers attacked me at the entrance to the clinic and dragged me into a car, they behaved like street henchmen. They said that they were from the Right Sector*. And they turned out to be employees of the SBU (photos of some of them were posted there on the honor board). One of them offered to go to my house to compensate him for the money: when they dragged me in, I scratched his car window. He demanded 800 hryvnia from me. Appreciate the humor of the moment. I'm driving with a bag on my head, beaten. And the driver is talking to me about how he can change the glass at my expense... Of course, I had absolutely no impression that these were SBU officers.
And when I returned home four years later and saw these murals in the apartment, I naturally thought: “What level of employees did they hire as operatives in 2014-2015?” Just street punks who jumped on the Maidan, and then found themselves in law enforcement agencies and were engaged in illegally kidnapping people.
They took the keys from me during the seizure. And two days after my capture, a search took place without my knowledge, without inviting a lawyer. Apparently, my keys opened the door. These drawings and inscriptions were made. Grenades were planted, and in another room the flag of Novorossiya was hung, as I understand from the case materials. Why did you paint the room? If they wanted to show what a separatist I am with the flag of Novorossiya, then why write these patriotic slogans in another room?! Unmotivated and difficult to explain chaos. The behavior of difficult teenagers can be so unmotivated and illogical...
— How much has the atmosphere of Kharkov changed during this time? Didn't the city seem alien?
— The Russian inscriptions remain. There is a certain linguistic faction. There is a tendency: in spite of the nationalist policy of limiting the Russian language, to still use it in the public sphere. This can be seen from the signs on stores, parks, and squares. This is all preserved. One can see a cultural and political struggle, let’s say, for the identity of the city’s residents, who they really consider themselves to be.
The party that has gained power in the country through unconstitutional means is trying to make the most of its opportunities. And what we get is an ideological return to the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, when there was the peak of nationalist movements in the world. But returning there is impossible. Now is a completely different time, different approaches to the concept of identity, etc. We know that in the world there is no longer such linguistic antagonism and antagonism of identity. A person can have several identities, and this does not contradict anything at all.
— In 2008, you very accurately predicted the possible Crimean scenario in the event of anti-Russian forces coming to power in Kyiv. This came true six years later. Do you now have a forecast for 2025?
- This is not about clairvoyance. These predictions are logical and trivial. It’s just that some things prevent people from seeing the truth and the true state of things. For example, dreams and desires interfere. And in this country, the reality is very different from what its citizens expect. Therefore, the only way to see reality is to rid yourself of illusions.
There are currently no objective grounds for any good forecasts. The war in the country continues, the split is a long-term reality. Crazy decisions in the economy and weak leadership continue. There are a number of objective prerequisites that completely exclude a good development of events.
We can also add: the lack of an independent judicial system, the rule of law, disregard for laws and the constitution at the highest level. We saw Zelensky showing a completed ballot... And this from the very beginning - to the applause of the public, even more ready to vote for his strength. With such an attitude of the people towards legality and order, it is impossible to expect good developments in this country.
Regarding the people of Ukraine, we also need to get rid of illusions. We see that the people are far from being as smart, strong-willed, and organized as some leaders say, trying to flatter them. The people are gullible.
The only conclusion: this country has no future. This is the truth that needs to be told to the people and not hidden from them. Because it's like a bad prognosis in treatment. You can hide it so as not to cause pain and moral suffering. Or, on the contrary, you can tell the truth so that a person can somehow prepare himself for this negative scenario: write a will, communicate with loved ones.
Deceiving people, claiming that everything will be fine is immoral. The truth is that there is nothing to look for here anytime soon. And if you have minor children, then it is better to take them away from here at least for some time. Because in the coming years, neither the economy, nor science, nor life will definitely be fragrant here...
— Looking back at the events of five years ago, at the protests in Kharkov in the spring of 2014, what can you say now? Weren't they in vain?
— The protests were against violation of the Constitution. The fact that ordinary citizens came out was a consequence of the failure of the state. People in uniform, who swore an oath to the Constitution and the people of Ukraine (who had previously made their choice by electing the appropriate government), were supposed to nip any revolution in the bud. Because any revolution in a country where democratic rule already exists is an attack on the power of the people. But they didn't. Therefore, the people themselves had to come out.
In particular, in Kharkov, the people who came out to protest against the unconstitutional coup turned out to be on the right side. Yes, we lost. Yes, common sense has failed. The constitutional power was defeated. We weren't the only ones who lost.
But we were on the right side. At least we warned that it would be like this. Now those people who rode on the Maidan - where are they?! Where were all these horses when the government led by Poroshenko was running amok?
We, those who were at the center of events, know that there was not enough support from those people who sat in the kitchen, said everything correctly, but did not lift a finger.
Our fellow citizens need to really understand themselves. Look within yourself for the cause of the troubles that are happening in the country. Do not exclude yourself from the list of those responsible. That's the most important thing. What did you do, were you ready to sacrifice at least your time to express your protest?
Igor Jadan
Jadan's apartment after the SBU search
a political prisoner found her in this form upon leaving the pre-trial detention center
*Prohibited in the Russian Federation.
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