Ildar Dadin is a political prisoner in Russia. He has the unwelcome distinction of being the first person imprisoned under an onerous new law: a law that effectively bans protests of the government without permission from that same government.

Dadin has been tortured. He feared that he would be killed. Just recently, he was transferred from one prison, in Karelia, near Finland, to another, in Siberia, near the Kazakh border. The good news is: Ildar Dadin is alive and well, after all he has been through.

What he will face in coming days, weeks, and months, no one can know.

Jay wrote about the Dadin case here. And now, in this “Q&A,” he talks with the woman defending Dadin, trying to protect him, trying to spread the word about him: his wife, Anastasia Zotova. She is an amazingly brave woman, under great pressures. She tells us many interesting things, not only about her man and her marriage, but also about Russia today.

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There are 4 comments.

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  1. Valiuth Member
    Valiuth
    @Valiuth

    Great interview. She and her husband are remarkable people, we should all pray for them. The degeneracy of the Putin State is nearly absolute, and once again an incoming US president is keen on warming relations with these people.

    • #1
  2. JR Bohl Inactive
    JR Bohl
    @JRBohl

    Thank you, Jay, for a really moving and smart presentation of a story that cries out to be heard. I’m rather ashamed that we Americans don’t seem to care about the wide world and the universal principles our Founders tried to leave us. Our current political inclination towards “personalities” and away from principled positions has a clear foreshadowing in Putin’s Russia.

    • #2
  3. Skarv Inactive
    Skarv
    @Skarv

    Very moving indeed. So sad to see all the Russia cheering on the member feed these days.

    • #3
  4. Nerina Bellinger Inactive
    Nerina Bellinger
    @NerinaBellinger

    Riveting interview, Jay.  These are the stories that need telling and will hopefully convince people of Putin’s utter cravenness.  I was particularly struck by the statement that it is not Putin who is popular, but rather whoever is in the position of President is popular.  So sad that her family has disowned her as an “enemy of the state”.  I know the wall came down, but listening to this interview has me wondering if it matters to Russians.

    • #4
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