INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Gutnikova and three fellow editors at the independent student magazine DOXA were arrested for a video defending students exercising their
clarity.The Moscow Times:What first got you into activism?Alla Gutnikova: I got politicized, like a lot of people from my generation, in one
you can see how rapidly things evolved in Russia.When [Golunov] was arrested, there was this huge campaign [for him] because he was a
We were all there, we were all shouting, and then a miracle happened: A few days later, he was released.I think it might have set somewhat
unrealistic expectations for me
Later, there was a huge demonstration for the Moscow case, and I was also going to all the court hearings
that, it was impossible to stop
A year ago, when Navalny was murdered, we could see that people used that day as the only possibility to express their [views], even just by
It was very important that back in our times, it was at least possible to express your political views that way.MT: Are you still working
Thanks to our criminal case, we have quite a huge audience now
Unfortunately, I'm not a part of the team anymore
I had to quit because I needed a lot of time to recover my mental health
MT: Some people might underestimate how house arrest can be a traumatic experience for someone
It's not going to prison, but it is its own form of..
experience of being in and out at the same time
It has a very horrific effect on your mental health
But I also had this double mindset about my house arrest
I know that I was lucky in a way
Gutnikova and Vladimir Metelkin outside Moscow's Basmanny District Court.Courtesy photoMT:I first heard about DOXA because they covered
sexual abuse in universities
as a student project, but it was always a left-wing project focusing on inequality, oppression and violence
When the problem of sexual harassment and abuse is a huge one, like the investigations into sexual harassment at schools and universities
showed, it illustrates this system of oppression where those in power can do anything and will never face any punishment or restriction.As a
victim myself, I had the sexual assault that I survived in mind
were at the Navalny protests
We think that Navalny is innocent
You either have to go partisan and clandestine and underground, or you have to be silent
She drew a picture in support of Ukraine, and then she was separated from her father and her father was arrested
started to publish it after the arrest
I thought there was something important that I needed to witness and to say
It was a way of resistance because you could live through something and then tell that story.When it was time to say our last words [in
court], it was after the full-scale invasion
statement as metaphorically, but as powerful as possible
But during this first month, I had this false, naive idea that if only people knew, they would also fight for it to stop
I was just too naive to think that we could change something.From left: Then-DOXA editors Armen Aramyan, Natalia Tyshkevich, Alla Gutnikova
doing, even if the answer is no
A lot of people are disappointed and depressed, and they want some kind of guidance
We need to document all of it because we know there are going to be trials
If not, we could just wait for the new Nuremberg
But definitely one day, it will happen
There are a lot of activists who literally save lives
It sounds impossible now, but they still do.
