Farewell, NatashaBy German Sadulayev, special to Prague WatchdogExecutioners are always cowards. For the executioner only one life has an absolute value – his own. The life of anyone else means nothing to him. But God is merciful to the weak. God is merciless to the wicked and the cruel. Fear God! For those who have no pity for their neighbour, He has no mercy and no compassion. The "Russian nationalists" write through clenched teeth: it’s too bad, of course, it’s a woman. And more in that vein. But then they say: she went poking her nose where she shouldn’t have. And why did she only defend the rights of Chechens? Why didn’t she defend the rights of the Russian population when the Chechens carried out a “genocide” against them? Where were you, Russian nationalists, when the old Russian women in the Grozny nursing home were dying from hunger during the bombing? Where were you when the Russian people were suffering? You should have come and taken the Russians away, you could have carried out a passport check or stopped the slaughter, which made no distinction between Russians and non-Russians. The Chechen nationalists were wrong. Many of them were wrong in the head. But they fought for their ideals and died fighting. But what did you do? You’re still alive. How come? Estemirova was wrong to defend only the rights of Chechens. But you could have defended the rights of the Russians in Chechnya. It would have meant less work for her. But you didn’t defend anyone. So now be silent. What was her crime? She told the truth. She called the executioner an executioner, the torturer a torturer, the murderer a murderer. Look around you, dear Russians! Open your eyes! Your leaders think they are gods, immortal, eternal, they think they are allowed to do anything they like and will stop at nothing to preserve their status, wealth and power. If they are killing us, it means that they are afraid of us. We are few, but not as few as they would like. Because more fighters will stand and replace those who have perished. Because you will also stand and fight. . I do not want to die. I have a daughter, I want to put her on her feet, give her a start in life. No one wants to die. Everyone has a family. I want to live. But not at the price of a cowardly silence or subservience. Everyone dies eventually. But when I die, I want my daughter to be proud of me. I want to believe that light will overcome darkness, and that the light will make visible the deeds of every man, his life and his death. I will say what I think. I will describe what I see. If your eyes are closed, I will open them with the palm of my hand. If not, I will die in the doorway of my apartment, of a heart attack, or in a hospital bed after a long and serious illness. Soon we will all be there.
Photo: Andrei Blinushov.
(Translation by DM)
http://www.watchdog.cz/?show=000000-000024-000002-000016〈=1 | 
