Refuge from Russia: When Poetry Becomes a Crime

Amnesty International has declared Russian poets Artem Kamardin, Yegor Shtovba, and Nikolai Dayneko prisoners of conscience in the so-called Mayakovsky case. In September 2022, they took part in an anti-war poetry reading at a monument to Vladimir Mayakovsky in Moscow, and within days they were arrested and later convicted on charges tied to alleged hatred and threats to state security.In this episode, Tami breaks down how a peaceful poetry reading became a criminal case, why Amnesty says the poets were punished for courage rather than crime, and what the harsh sentences reveal about the growing reach of Russia’s repression. We also examine the disturbing reports of torture and inhumane treatment, especially in the case of Artem Kamardin, and what this case says about the dangers facing artists and dissenters in wartime Russia.When a government fears a poem, it is not protecting the public. It is protecting power.