Andrei Zvyagintsev asking for a free election in Russia

by Sarah Hurst

Acclaimed Russian film director and screenwriter Andrei Zvyagintsev has made an appeal for Alexei Navalny to be allowed into the presidential election on March 18. This is the text of his video comments:

“I’ve just realised that I’m recording an appeal, but I don’t know to whom I’m appealing. I don’t know to whom this is addressed. For the simple reason that everything I have to say is reduced to simple words. The president of the Russian Federation, like any president of any country, is the guarantor of the life and dignity of his people. What dignity can we talk about when you are asked to choose one out of one? There’s no human dignity here. When he is dealing with an opponent in front of your eyes in such a wilful, artless, repulsive manner.

“I may not even be a supporter of Navalny, I may not even come to the election or vote on principle, since I’ve never voted in my life, but to watch this, this show, is just disgusting. You get the feeling you are being taken for an idiot. And to those who guard and protect the peace, the current peace of our president, who devoutly believe in their 90 or 86 percent rating – why are you afraid of an open political battle? You have no reason to fear them. The outcome is predetermined anyway. I repeat, I don’t know to whom I’m appealing, but to watch this, to watch this is unpleasant. Thank you for your attention.”