Russia’s Political Persecution of a Philosopher: Further Details (guest post)

Earlier this week, it was reported that Russian Philosopher Svetlana Mesyats was placed under house arrest and the offices and homes of several other employees of the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences were searched. What is going on there, and why? In the following guest post, Elizaveta Shcherbakova (Humboldt University of Berlin), who used to work at the Institute of Philosophy alongside Dr. Mesyats, but who has now left Russia, explains. “The danger… is very real,” she wrote in an email. “the charges, bogus though they are, carry a sentence of up to ten years in a Russian penal colony.” She is hoping that “even a little clarity and attention from abroad could help my former colleagues.” Russia’s Political Persecution of a Philosopher by Elizaveta Shcherbakovba I am writing to make you aware of a deeply troubling case of political persecution in Russia involving a scholar in our field, targeted for practicing that field with integrity. The purpose of this…