A native Muscovite and a well-known leftist publicist was transferred to the capital of the Komi Republic, since the FSB of the region initiated a criminal case against him. Kagarlitsky* is suspected of publicly justifying terrorism on the Internet, for which he faces up to 7 years in prison. It is reported that we are talking about a post by a well-known blogger dedicated to the explosion on the Crimean bridge in October 2022. Colleagues of the scientist in the expert community mainly defend the editor-in-chief of Rabkor, but Alexander Dugin calls him a “marginal figure” and calls for intensifying repression.
“The purpose of all his speeches is an attempt to show real problems”
For the second day now, the entire Russian expert community has been agitated by the news about the problems with the law of the well-known sociologist and left-wing publicist Boris Kagarlitsky*. Even the day before, it became known that the FSB opened a criminal case against the 64-year-old scientist and public figure, he is suspected of publicly justifying terrorism on the Internet, for which he faces up to 7 years in prison.
Even the day before, the whereabouts of Kagarlitsky* were unknown, his phone was turned off, and already today there was information that he was transferred to Syktyvkar, since the FSB of the Komi Republic opened the case. “Our declared position on this case is holistic and simple, which should be the truth without conjectures and heaps: “In his work, Professor B.Yu. Kagarlitsky never supported or justified terrorism. The purpose of all his speeches is an attempt to show the real problems that the Russian state is facing,” wrote his lawyer Sergey Erokhov in the Telegram channel of the Rabkor publication headed by Kagarlitsky*.
Later, Erokhov wrote that the measure of restraint would be chosen by the Syktyvkar city court today at 16:00, the lawyer does not have time to come to his ward, so Kagarlitsky * will himself voice their common position. The media also reported that the FSB would insist on the arrest. The scientist is allegedly charged with one of the posts dedicated to the explosion on the Crimean bridge last autumn.
Kagarlitsky* is one of the brightest left-wing thinkers in contemporary Russia. Growing up in a Moscow professorial family, he managed to take part in the Soviet dissident movement from his student days. In 1980, he was expelled from GITIS with the wording “for anti-social activities”, two years later he was arrested for participating in the underground socialist circle “Young Socialists”, after which Kagarlitsky * spent a little more than a year in Lefortovo prison for anti-Soviet propaganda. They write that even the famous theater director Peter Brook signed letters in his defense.
In freedom, he began to publish in the West, as well as to cooperate with the Russian media, while becoming an influential member of the global left movement. Even in late Soviet times, he took part in the creation of the Socialist Party and the Labor Party. In the middle of the 2000s, he broke up with the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and Gennady Zyuganov, who even sued a scientist who accused him of selling seats in the parliamentary elections. In 2014, he supported the creation of the LPR and the DPR, but was critical of the beginning of the NWO.
Recently, he taught at the Moscow Higher School of Social and Economic Sciences and was the editor-in-chief of the Rabkor online publication. His organization, the Institute of Globalization and Social Movements**, was recognized by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation as a foreign agent in 2018. In May 2022, Kagarlitsky* himself was included in the register of media – foreign agents.
“He is definitely not a random victim. But again, this is a marginal figure.”
Naturally, the Russian Telegram is full of reactions to the detention of the sociologist Kagarlitsky*.
The comment of the political scientist Sergei Markov turned out to be the most replicated. “Boris Kagarlitsky* today is probably the most influential Russian politician and left-wing expert in the world. He has been “involved” in the huge international left socialist movement for 40 years already, writes the Markov Logic channel. And he expresses in many ways the position of this left-wing international socialist movement. He should not be put in jail, but the presidential administration should actively work with him and with hundreds of left-wing politicians in the world through him. Get away from Kagarlitsky*! Don’t make a gross political mistake. If he is suddenly imprisoned, it will be a huge harm to Russia in the world.”
On the opposite end of the spectrum of opinions is the statement of the famous philosopher Alexander Dugin. Interestingly, just a few hours before the news about the criminal case of Kagarlitsky*, he wrote on his AGDchan channel that he supported repressions in modern Russia. “When there were repressions in the USSR, the country was great and strong, it developed rapidly and rapidly,” Dugin points out. – When they stopped, everything began to rot, decompose and die. The absence of repression stopped the rotation of the elites. And everything began to tend to zero, to the nihilism of the late Soviet and even more so the post-Soviet era.”
Already today, not without the pride of a seer, he wrote: “What did I say about repressions?” After that, Dugin stated that Kagarlitsky *, although he did not name him by his last name, was still not the first candidate to be persecuted by the authorities. “In this case (possibly, but not yet verified), a foreign agent was repressed (this is a legal fact, not a curse), a member of the world Trotskyist international. A person who is convinced of his left-globalist ideas, the author states. “He’s definitely not a random victim. But again, this is a marginal figure. And the main candidates for repression have not even been touched upon so far. Maybe the authorities are simply aiming at the flanks in order to find the accumulation of the enemy. Make no mistake about it: the most toxic, dangerous and pernicious enemy is the liberals. We are waiting for them to shoot and hit the target.
At the same time, one can agree with Nezygar, for whom Kagarlitsky* sometimes wrote*, that, on the whole, the expert community reacted sympathetically to the situation with him. “Many admit that they do not understand what is happening and say that we need to wait for the details,” the authors of the channel point out. – At the same time, many significant and prominent experts of various spectrums (from liberals to the extreme right) expressed their public support for Kagarlitsky*, who is only to a limited extent involved in political processes and is rather in the status of an expert focused on scientific and qualitative conceptualization of ongoing processes “.
And the channel “Kremlin BezBashennik” sadly ironizes on this occasion: “They say that after the story of the arrest of the foreign agent Kagarlitsky * in the intellectual environment there was a request for the emergence of a new profession (since no one’s own knowledge in the field of law, lawyers and advocates, as it turns out, cannot to protect your clients from their careless public statements on topical topics of the agenda, for which “there should be nothing”) – “an interpreter of power thoughts and conjectures, phobias and stereotypes of professional consciousness” … “
An interesting view on the topic was expressed by the Krom Chronicler channel, which compared the cases of Kagarlitsky * and Igor Strelkov, who was arrested at the end of last week, representing different political flanks.
“Threshing went to those who could be the frontmen of the new Russian idea,” the authors of the channel say. – With Strelkov and his worldview, everything is clear, the attic there has been leaking heavily in recent years, but often it hits the mark … Through Kagarlitsky * it was possible to work with the world socialist movement. For a second, in the whole situation in the world community, only the European socialist parties supported us. The money invested in the right-wing conservative parties did not pay off a single ruble: everywhere they vote against us. In a word, we are now cutting down two promising ideas on which something could be built. Again, this is neither good nor bad, and the choice depends on our political preferences.”
“If these forces win, then they will really turn Russia into something similar to the Mayan civilization”
BUSINESS Online experts assess what is happening with the famous scientist and ideologue of the left movement.
Maxim Shevchenko – journalist, politician:
“This is just a reprisal against one of the brightest political thinkers of modern Russia, and it is obvious that this is revenge for his sharp mind, for his open-minded position and for his critical Marxist analysis. I do not see the slightest reason for the arrest of Kagarlitsky * and such an urgent transfer to Syktyvkar, as happened today. The case was initiated by the FSB department for the Komi Republic, in general, some kind of simply mysterious case.
I believe that this is due to some intrigues within the Communist Party. Komi is, perhaps, Oleg Mikhailov, a deputy from the Communist Party, who was elected himself, won there, defeated the governor Uyba and United Russia, won a single-mandate constituency. They want to make such a “cause of the left” in Komi and tie local communists to it, I suppose. Boris Yulievich * is a very popular person among the young, intellectual wing of the Communist Party, his books, his lectures, his videos are watched, read by young communists. I am struck by something else – the leadership of the Communist Party. Well, you had disagreements, Kagarlitsky * spoke critically about the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and Zyuganov, but if you are a leftist party, then among the left it is customary to show solidarity. One could say, let’s say that we have disagreements, but we are protesting against the arrest of a prominent leftist thinker. They are silent, so my suspicion is that the origins of the arrest must also be sought in the leadership of the Communist Party, but how else to explain this? It is impossible to explain it otherwise.
Vitaly Milonov – State Duma deputy:
– The arguments of those who made the decision to arrest are unknown to me, I just do not know. But, you know, the leftist movement, in principle, is the mainstay of Western forces in our country, because, unfortunately, this whole leftist agenda was already relevant in our country a century ago, because of this leftist position, the shameful Treaty of Brest was signed , Unfortunately it is so. Again, so that there are no misunderstandings, I am not aware of the nuances of the arrest, those who are on the agenda of this issue can comment better. At the same time, it is very important that Strelkov and Kagarlitsky * are the people who, despite their public status, have come to a definite decision. This is a signal to many that we have a special regime in the country now. To be a person speaking from positions that could harm the country is completely unacceptable to me.
Boris Mezhuev – philosopher, political scientist:
– There is a feeling that this is just deliberate sabotage. And this is when Robert Kennedy, Jr. advocated a better relationship with Russia. You see, of course, he is not alone, this Kennedy Jr. He may not become president of the United States, but the real threat to the incumbent, who takes an anti-Russian position from the left circles of the Democratic Party, is becoming very clear. Most importantly, these left-wing circles of the Democratic Party in the person of Kennedy Jr. indicate their more moderate course towards Russia. And at that moment, the most famous person in these circles in Russia is arrested. Naturally, the mood in this environment – to seek cooperation with Russia – will decrease significantly after such an arrest. It feels like someone decided to work for the White House.
This is all complete rubbish about justifying terrorism. I read the telegram channel of Kagarlitsky * and did not see any of his negative attitude towards the NWO. He was no different from the average Russian intellectual. He preferred to discuss some world problems. Of course, he treats the NWO without any enthusiasm, but he did not make any statements of an anti-Russian nature and did not call anyone anywhere. When Kagarlitsky* was made a foreign agent, everyone, including himself, reacted philosophically to this. Indeed, most likely, he received some money from Western left-wing foundations in his organization. But this insane arrest and transfer to Syktyvkar looks like a monstrous step. And we see what forces rejoice at this arrest. Apparently, if these forces win, they will really turn Russia into something similar to the Mayan civilization.
Konstantin Kalachev – political strategist:
– I have known about the existence of Boris Kagarlitsky* since 1988, I have nothing to add to what my colleague Markov said before me. The fact is that Boris Kagarlitsky * is a really respected person in the world left movement, he is a propagandist of the ideas of socialism, and for at least 40 years he has been known as a propagandist of the ideas of socialism. In general, any political activity, any critical thought is now perceived as sedition and extremism, in fact it is all very sad. Because it is extremely difficult for me to imagine Kagarlitsky* in the role of an enemy of society, in the role of a terrorist, an extremist, a criminal. As for me, this is a cleansing of the political field from the left and right, this is very sad, because such actions do not add any pluses to the image of Russia, especially since the left all over the world has always sympathized with Russia to one degree or another. The detention of a prominent figure in the international political movement is unlikely to add positive to the relations of foreign left-wing politicians to the Russian Federation.
There is another side to the question: how convincing are the accusations, how provable are they, how much is he really socially dangerous? From my point of view, the left thinker poses no social danger. Imagine that Noam Chomsky (an American scientist and publicist of leftist views – ed.), if he lived in Russia, he would have been arrested 10 times, but here he is exalted, quoted, and so on, and he lives happily ever after in America, propagandizes Marxism.
