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Vladimir Bukovsky: 'I'm on hunger strike for the British public' Vladimir Bukovsky: 'I'm on hunger strike for the British public'
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The Russian dissident Vladimir Bukovsky has been on hunger strike at his home in Cambridge for more than a week in protest at what he calls the “Kafkaesque” British judicial system.The Russian dissident Vladimir Bukovsky has been on hunger strike at his home in Cambridge for more than a week in protest at what he calls the “Kafkaesque” British judicial system.
Bukovsky was charged last year with child pornography offences. He strenuously denies the allegations. Last August he took the unusual step of suing the Crown Prosecution Service for libel. He is seeking £100,000 in damages and claims the CPS has “falsely and maliciously” hurt his reputation. Bukovsky was charged last year with child pornography offences. He strenuously denies the allegations. In August he took the unusual step of suing the Crown Prosecution Service for libel: he is seeking £100,000 in damages and claims the CPS has “falsely and maliciously” hurt his reputation.
Related: Russian dissident Vladimir Bukovsky misses court hearing due to illnessRelated: Russian dissident Vladimir Bukovsky misses court hearing due to illness
Jenny Hopkins, the chief crown prosecutor for CPS east of England, said in April 2015: “Following an investigation by Cambridgeshire police, we have concluded that there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest to prosecute Vladimir Bukovsky.” Jenny Hopkins, the CPS’s chief crown prosecutor for the east of England, said in April 2015: “Following an investigation by Cambridgeshire police, we have concluded that there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest to prosecute Vladimir Bukovsky.”
The dissident was a close friend of Alexander Litvinenko. The pornography was allegedly discovered on Bukovsky’s laptop shortly before he was due to testify in a public inquiry into Litvinenko’s murder in London in 2006. Two Kremlin agents, Dmitry Kovtun and Andrei Lugovoi, poisoned the former Russian spy in a Mayfair hotel with a cup of polonium tea.The dissident was a close friend of Alexander Litvinenko. The pornography was allegedly discovered on Bukovsky’s laptop shortly before he was due to testify in a public inquiry into Litvinenko’s murder in London in 2006. Two Kremlin agents, Dmitry Kovtun and Andrei Lugovoi, poisoned the former Russian spy in a Mayfair hotel with a cup of polonium tea.
Bukovsky told the inquiry he was “pretty sure” the Kremlin was behind Litvinenko’s death. The inquiry’s chairman, Sir Robert Owen, agreed, ruling in January that Vladimir Putin had “probably approved” the polonium plot in London. Bukovsky told the inquiry he was “pretty sure” the Kremlin was behind Litvinenko’s death. The inquiry chairman, Sir Robert Owen, agreed, ruling in January that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, had “probably approved” the polonium plot in London.
Bukovsky’s friends in the UK and Russia say he has been set up. They say his outspoken criticism of Putin made him an obvious target for sophisticated Kremlin hackers and suggest Russia “tipped off” the British police using Europol, the EU’s law enforcement agency. Bukovsky’s friends in the UK and Russia say he has been set up. They say his outspoken criticism of Putin made him an obvious target for sophisticated Kremlin hackers to plant the pornography and suggest Russia then “tipped off” the British police using Europol, the EU’s law enforcement agency.
Sitting in his living room in Cambridge, Bukovsky said: “I’m on hunger strike not because of trying to prove anything to the FSB [Russia’s security agency]. We’ve known each other for half a century. There’s nothing new they can tell me or I can tell them. I’m doing it for the British public.” Speaking at his home in Cambridge, Bukovsky said: “I’m on hunger strike not because of trying to prove anything to the FSB [Russia’s security agency]. We’ve known each other for half a century. There’s nothing new they can tell me or I can tell them. I’m doing it for the British public.”
Bukovsky wants to have his libel action against the CPS heard before the criminal case. So far he has been unsuccessful and is due to go on trial in May, with his libel case pencilled in for the summer following three postponements. “I’m denied justice, quite openly and blatantly,” he said. Bukovsky wants his libel action against the CPS to be heard before the criminal case begins. He is due to go on trial in May, with his libel case pencilled in for the summer following three postponements. “I’m denied justice, quite openly and blatantly,” he said.
The sequence will allow Russia’s state media to gleefully repeat the criminal allegations, he said, while ignoring the verdict should he be acquitted. Bukovsky faces five charges of making indecent images of children, five of possessing indecent images of children, and one of possessing a prohibited image.The sequence will allow Russia’s state media to gleefully repeat the criminal allegations, he said, while ignoring the verdict should he be acquitted. Bukovsky faces five charges of making indecent images of children, five of possessing indecent images of children, and one of possessing a prohibited image.
Now aged 73, Bukovsky has been in poor health. He nearly died last year and spent four months in hospital in Germany. He began his hunger strike on 20 April. “At the moment I feel nothing. I’m OK. The feeling of hunger slowly dies,” he said. “Sometime next week I will not feel hunger at all.” Bukovsky’s last hunger strike was four decades ago, back in the Soviet Union and the Brezhnev era, during an implacable struggle against the KGB. Now aged 73, Bukovsky has been in poor health. He nearly died last year and spent four months in hospital in Germany. He began his hunger strike on 20 April.
Over the last ten days, supporters from around the world have urged him to abandon his hunger strike. They argue it will have little influence on a British court. Some of them have visited him at his crumbling house on the outskirts of Cambridge. He has lived there since just after his expulsion from the Soviet Union in 1976. “At the moment I feel nothing. I’m OK. The feeling of hunger slowly dies,” he said. “Sometime next week I will not feel hunger at all.” Bukovsky’s last hunger strike was four decades ago, in the Soviet Union and the Brezhnev era, during an implacable struggle against the KGB.
Bukovsky’s phone now rings constantly. A Russian documentary film crew turned up this week and filmed in his living room. He has received hundreds of emails. An online petition has been launched. More than 150 former Soviet political prisoners and their descendants have signed a letter of support, describing Bukovsky as “a man of gigantic moral stature.” Over the last 10 days, supporters from around the world have urged him to abandon his hunger strike, arguing it will have little influence on a British court. Some of them have visited him at his crumbling house on the outskirts of Cambridge where he has lived since just after his expulsion from the Soviet Union in 1976.
Bukovsky’s phone now rings constantly. A Russian documentary film crew turned up this week and filmed him in his living room. He has received hundreds of emails. An online petition has been launched and more than 150 former Soviet political prisoners and their descendants have signed a letter of support, describing Bukovsky as “a man of gigantic moral stature”.
Related: A son seeking justice for LitvinenkoRelated: A son seeking justice for Litvinenko
“Successive Russian governments, including doubtless this one have wanted you dead,” his publisher, David Campbell, wrote in an email. “Why are you risking your life ... and thus giving the Kremlin this satisfaction?”“Successive Russian governments, including doubtless this one have wanted you dead,” his publisher, David Campbell, wrote in an email. “Why are you risking your life ... and thus giving the Kremlin this satisfaction?”
Bukovsky, however, is unmoved. He said he is not in any great hurry to die but is prepared to do so if his demand for justice isn’t met. “Most of my friends have been in jail at some point and on hunger strike. They treat it normally, without any undue emotional reactions,” he said. He is refusing food but is drinking “plain tea” and mineral water. Bukovsky, however, is unmoved. He said he was not in any hurry to die but was prepared to do so if his demand for justice wasn’t met.
He added: “After a while you slip into some kind of euphoria. It’s an incredible, marvellous feeling. You’re flying over the world. Imagination works perfectly. The brain is like a Swiss clock. Apparently the digestive function takes too much of blood and oxygen from our brain. Once you stop it the brain works better than it did. It also improves your sleep pattern. I suffer from insomnia. I remember from hunger strike you usually sleep beautifully.” “Most of my friends have been in jail at some point and on hunger strike. They treat it normally, without any undue emotional reactions,” he said. He was refusing food but drinking “plain tea” and mineral water.
“After a while you slip into some kind of euphoria. It’s an incredible, marvellous feeling. You’re flying over the world. Imagination works perfectly. The brain is like a Swiss clock. Apparently the digestive function takes too much of blood and oxygen from our brain. Once you stop it, the brain works better than it did. It also improves your sleep pattern. I suffer from insomnia. I remember from hunger strike you usually sleep beautifully.”
Of death, he said: “I’m not afraid of it. How can you be afraid of something inevitable? It isn’t a senseless death. It’s a purposeful death. I’m an old man anyway.”Of death, he said: “I’m not afraid of it. How can you be afraid of something inevitable? It isn’t a senseless death. It’s a purposeful death. I’m an old man anyway.”
Bukovsky began his protest against Soviet power in the early 1960s. He was jailed without trial in 1963 and spent the next 12 years in a series of prisons, labour camps and psychiatric hospitals. During this period he went on hunger strike 2o times; frequently the authorities caved in. He exposed to the west the Soviet use of psychiatric treatment against political prisoners.Bukovsky began his protest against Soviet power in the early 1960s. He was jailed without trial in 1963 and spent the next 12 years in a series of prisons, labour camps and psychiatric hospitals. During this period he went on hunger strike 2o times; frequently the authorities caved in. He exposed to the west the Soviet use of psychiatric treatment against political prisoners.
In a prison in the city of Perm, he said, all inmates refused food in protest at inadequate medical facilities. Bukovsky said he held out for 30 days. Conditions in the camp improved. In 1971, he said, when he was incarcerated at the KGB’s Lefortovo prison in Moscow, staff brutally force-fed him through the nose. “It was incredibly painful,” he said. In a prison in the city of Perm, he said, all of the inmates refused food in protest at inadequate medical facilities. Bukovsky said he held out for 30 days. Conditions in the camp improved.
Bukovsky said he did not take credit for the end of the Soviet Union. But he said he was proud of his role in “delegitimising” communism and in freeing eastern Europe from Soviet rule. In exile, Bukovsky briefed Margaret Thatcher ahead of her first meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev. In 2008 he tried to stand in Russia’s presidential election. The Kremlin disqualified him. In 1971, he said, when he was incarcerated at the KGB’s Lefortovo prison in Moscow, staff brutally force-fed him through the nose. “It was incredibly painful.”
Of Putin, he said: “I think he’s evil.” Asked when a democratic Russia might emerge, he said: “That would be not very soon.” Bukovsky said he did not take credit for the end of the Soviet Union, but he was proud of his role in “delegitimising” communism and in freeing eastern Europe from Soviet rule. In exile, Bukovsky briefed Margaret Thatcher ahead of her first meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev. In 2008, he tried to stand in Russia’s presidential election but the Kremlin disqualified him.
Of Putin, he said: “I think he’s evil.” And asked when a democratic Russia might emerge, he said: “That would be not very soon.”