According to media reports, a major prisoner exchange between Russia and some Western countries occurred in Turkey on Thursday, August 1, 2024. As part of this exchange, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and several Russian opposition politicians, including Ilya Yashin and Vladimir Kara-Murza, who had been imprisoned in Russia, were released.
We welcome the release of Russian political prisoners as part of this swap.
Unfortunately, Russian mathematician and political prisoner Azat Miftakhov was not included in this exchange. He remains incarcerated in Russia after his latest conviction in March 2024, where he received a four-year prison sentence on fabricated charges of “justifying terrorism.” Azat has been imprisoned since February 2019.
While Azat may not hold strategic value in the current global power struggle, he is highly significant to the mathematical and scientific communities. As a young Russian researcher imprisoned for his political views, Azat’s case is emblematic of the repression faced by academics, intellectuals, and young people in Russia and beyond. We call for his immediate release and hope that his situation will be considered in future exchanges.
The case of Azat Miftakhov 