Sakharov May Day

The first Sakharov May Day took place on May 21, 2006, on the 85th anniversary of the birth of Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov , in Moscow , in the park at the Museum and Public Center named after Andrei Sakharov . On the same day, the museum celebrated its 10th anniversary. May Day organizers took the initiative to celebrate a nationwide non-governmental Freedom Festival every third Sunday of May.

The weather was sunny. The rally brought together several hundred participants with balloons with the inscription "Freedom!" And badges with the same word. The holiday program included speeches by politicians , human rights activists , scientists, artists and bards .

Speaking to the participants of the May Day, President of the Andrei Sakharov Foundation , Chairman of the Russian Memorial Sergey Kovalev said:

“I am pleased to congratulate all of us on the anniversary of Andrei Dmitrievich and the Freedom Day established today - established by us, and not by them”

Sergei Kovalev talked about the situation in the country: about lies, about the “infinitely servile parliament”, the court, the censored press, the Public Chamber , as an example of “ersatz, a substitute for democratic institutions.”

“And we are silent. That's shameful. <...> I am ashamed to sleep. And I would like to hope that the Freedom Festival established from below is one of the signs that we still do not want to remain in hibernation, ”

- with these words Sergey Kovalev finished his speech.

Organizers

The organizers of the first Sakharov May Day in 2006 were the Sakharov Center , the Andrei Sakharov Foundation , the Fund for Socio-Economic and Intellectual Programs , the Union of Right Forces Party, the Movement for Human Rights , the Moscow Helsinki Group and the Memorial Society .

Speakers

• Sergey Kovalev : ^[1]

“... And now, by the way, Sakharov’s time. Sakharovskoye because there are simple reasons to be, to act according to the principle that he held on to: do what you should, and whatever happens ...

• Boris Bolotovsky (read out a congratulation from Vitaliy Lazarevich Ginzburg who is in the hospital) ^[2]

“... My goal is to, against the background of various kinds of ugliness, which we are now witnesses, emphasize how we are lacking Sakharov. His role could be very large. What he did will never be forgotten. With best wishes, your Vitaly Ginzburg. ""

• Yuri Samodurov : ^[3]

“... The idea of ​​the holiday, the very name“ Freedom Festival ”was invented by Ephraim Yankelevich. And the words “Sakharov May Day” were said by Anatoly Shabad. <...> We would like to make our holiday traditional. Every third Sunday of May, not only here, in other cities, St. Petersburg, Perm, in Nizhny Novgorod and so on. We must feel that we want to protect, and we must protect Freedom ... "

• Nikita Belykh : ^[3]

“... it is very important to realize that freedom is not only and not so much what is happening around us, but primarily what is happening inside us. The worst sign of today is not censorship and external restrictions on freedom, but self-censorship and the internal restriction on freedom, which has become widespread ... ”

• Anatoly Shabad: ^[4]

“... the name of Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov escaped this fate. It will not be written on the cortical building, which is now erected, the so-called vertical of power. <...> They left him alone. They don’t even remember about his anniversary today. No official, nothing, and thank God ... "

• Garry Kasparov : ^[4]

“... Today it seems to many that those things that we then spoke of as implied, have already lost relevance, because people are disappointed. They were disappointed not in what Sakharov said, not in his ideas and ideals, but in how it was all realized and by whom, and for what it was used. Now we have to talk about these things again, again to say that these are axioms that do not require evidence ... "

• Egor Gaidar : ^[5]

“... The first experiment with the attempt to build a free Russia, undertaken at the beginning of the 20th century, ended in a bloody mess. The second turned out to be more extended, not so bloody, not so tragic. But in general, they came to the same place where they were. <...> Yes, building a functioning democracy and ensuring freedom in Russia is a difficult task. No illusions needed. But this problem, which will have to be solved and which can be solved ... "

• Vyacheslav Bakhmin : ^[5]

“... Today’s May Day show that there are such methods, there are technologies that make the human rights protection space open. Come here everyone who wants. Listen, talk, communicate, discuss. We have very few places where such public discussions are possible on very important issues. Therefore, I congratulate you on this undertaking ... "

• Alexander Lavut : ^[6]

“... This is what I remembered today. Presentation of the Nobel Peace Prize to Andrei Dmitrievich and how we listened to his Nobel speech. Andrei Dmitrievich is with us. Everyone, of course, knows, or almost everything that he was not there, in Oslo. His speech was made by Elena Georgievna. At this time, Andrei Georgievich and several other Muscovites from St. Petersburg were in Vilnius at the Kovalev trial ... "

• Vladimir Ryzhkov : ^[6]

“... Over the past five years, state security has played a lot back. We are no longer choosing governors. We do not have freedom of speech on television. We have manipulated, rigged elections. We have massive human rights violations. Dozens of political prisoners are actually languishing again in our prisons. <...> However, today is Freedom Day. Today is the Day of Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov. Today is the Day of hope, confidence that Russia will be a free country ... "

• Viktor Shenderovich : ^[7]

“... That's what you think about when you remember that name. First of all, you think that a free country is the sum of free people. No more. The amount of free people. All this talk about millions is from the evil one. All this talk about some people who choose something, it is very relative. A people consists of millions of individuals ... "

Concert Program

• Lisa Umarova
• Alexander Filippenko
• Andrey Anpilov
• Natella Boltyanskaya
• German Vinogradov

In 2007, the Sakharov May Day took place on May 20 at a traditional place - in the park near the Museum to them. Andrei Sakharov. The festival was organized by the Andrei Sakharov Museum and Community Center , the State Center for Contemporary Art , the Movement for Human Rights , the Moscow Helsinki Group , the Human Rights Institute, and the Civic Assistance Committee.

May Day Exhibitions

Two exhibitions were organized in the square where the May Day open air took place: the photo exhibition "The March of Dissent - Through the Eyes of Participants" and the art exhibition of the political caricature "Political Satire of Mikhail Zlatkovsky "

• “March of Dissent - through the eyes of the participants” photo exhibition on Sakharovskaya Mayevka
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• Nikolay Gladkikh. "Sakharovskaya Mayevka" in Moscow on May 21, 2006