The Gazette (Canada) April 14, 2003 Russian radical writer faces terrorism charges: He's written 7 books in 22 months in jail By Michael Mainville Moscow
Once a darling of the intelligentsia and hailed as one of Russia's greatest contemporary writers, Edward Limonov now sits behind bars, awaiting the verdict in a trial that saw him facing charges of terrorism, illegal arms possession and calling for the violent overthrow of the government.
Known for the sharp political edge to his largely autobiographical writing, Limonov finds out tomorrow whether he will spend the next 14 years of his life in prison.
A charismatic, ultra-nationalist radical, Limonov has made scathing attacks on Russia's new regime since returning in the early 1990s after 20 years in exile and founding the extremist National Bolshevik Party.
He has been particularly venomous toward Russian President Vladimir Putin, who he has variously labelled a criminal, an idiot, a loser and "a vampire sucking Russian blood."
Limonov was detained in April 2001 by a squad of security officers in a remote part of southern Russia near the border with Kazakhstan.
The Federal Security Service (FSB), the former KGB, had earlier arrested four NBP members on weapons charges, including three men alleged to have been carrying six automatic weapons, 83 rounds of ammunition, two detonators and nearly a kilogram of powerful explosives.
The FSB alleges that Limonov, who was denied bail, planned to lead armed groups into neighbouring Kazakhstan and to incite an uprising among Russians there to establish a "Second Russia." Prosecutors say Limonov then planned to wage a partisan war against Russia.
The accusation is based on an article published in the party's newspaper called Limonka (a play on Limonov's name and a slang word for hand grenade), which the government says provided a blueprint for the plan.
Limonov denies writing the article and any involvement in purchasing arms. He says the charges against him have been fabricated in an effort to silence dissident voices in Russia.
"This case is aimed at immersing our society in fear," he said during his trial last December.
A number of prominent Russian and French intellectuals have supported Limonov during the course of the trial, though all have been careful not to endorse his radical politics.
But unlike in past cases of writers being jailed in Russia, few major international organizations have interceded on Limonov's behalf. The only group to do so has been writers' lobby group PEN International, which had demanded his release while he waited for trial.
"We are against his (political) persuasions, against National Bolshevism," said Alexendar Tkachenko, the general secretary of Russian PEN. "But holding him in jail before he has been convicted is ridiculous."
Born Edward Savenko in Ukraine, Limonov - who changed his name to make it sound like "lemon" for unexplained reasons - settled in Moscow in 1966 to try his hand at writing. Expelled from the country in 1974 for his anti-Soviet views, Limonov moved first to New York and eventually to France. In 1980, he published his best-known work, It's Me, Eddie, which sold 1.5 million copies and has been translated into 15 languages. Upon his return to Russia, he began to espouse radical nationalist and Stalinist views, founding the NBP "to revive Lenin's revolutionary spirit." As a political party, the NBP has remained on the fringe in Russia, but has attracted attention through a variety of high-profile stunts, such as when NBP members lobbed tomatoes at NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson at last November's NATO summit in Prague. The party has recently been at the forefront of protests in Moscow against the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
Despite his 22 months in prison, authorities have had little success in silencing Limonov. He's written seven books since he was arrested, four of which have been published.
And while Limonov turned 60 on Feb. 22, few expect him to go quietly into retirement if he is acquitted. Writing in The Diary of a Loser, published in 1983, Limonov was prophetic about how he would spend his old age: "Retirement Insurance Policy! Indeed! Me, fishing at some creek in Oklahoma, drinking Schlitz-lite, wiping my bald skull ... Oh, no! It's better to be a lone wolf, to have a clear vision of the rubber-insulated electric chair in your future, and in spite of that, rejoin my guys and cry out in a hoarse voice: Kill 'em! For that is life! Kill 'em all!"
Harassed Journalists
In recent years, a number of high profile Russian journalists have faced official harassment:
Grigory Pasko was arrested in 1997 following his reports for a Russian Navy newspaper on the dumping of radioactive waste into the Sea of Japan. He was found guilty of divulging state secrets and sentenced to two years and four months in jail. He was released earlier this year for good behaviour.
Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist for Novaya Gazeta and author of A Dirty War in Chechnya, was arrested while reporting on refugees in Chechnya in February 2001 and expelled from the region. She was forced to go into hiding in late 2001 after receiving repeated threats due to her reporting on Chechnya, but has since returned to Moscow.
Andrei Babitsky, a reporter with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was arrested by Russian troops in Chechnya in January 2000, allegedly handed over to a pro-Moscow Chechen group and detained for more than a month. He eventually resurfaced in Dagestan, where he was arrested and fined $300 for allegedly using a false a passport.
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