Support for the Russian student media DOXA

On 14th April, at 6am, Moscow police raided the apartments of four Editors of the Russian student media DOXA; as well as two apartments of their families and the DOXA office. Following this, all four editors were charged with encouraging minors to take part in illegal activities and remanded by the court to house arrest for the next two months. As part of this, they are banned from using the internet and communicating with anyone other than immediate family, lawyers, and law-enforcement.

Armen Aramyan, Natasha Tyshkevich, Vladimir Metelkin, and Alla Gutnikova are our dearest friends. The stated reason for the charges brought against them is a video about the pressure that school and university students faced prior to the January protests calling for Navalny's freedom. In this video, they described threats of expulsion students across Russia had received for participating in the demonstration, which they claim were unlawful. For this they are charged with inciting minors to protest and face a maximum penalty of three years’ imprisonment.

DOXA (https://doxajournal.ru/) is an important part of Russian student life and the wider academic sphere. It publishes on topics vital for the community, undertakes investigative journalism related to university issues, publishes translations of important western philosophy, and gathers money for students fined for participation in peaceful protests. It organises conferences, summer schools and academic events – often with the participation of foreign speakers. News about the raids and the subsequent charges shook not only Moscow civil society, but also received international attention (http://tiny.cc/SolidarityWithDoxa). By April 19^th, more than a thousand academics had signed the letter of support. Within Russia, there have been multiple open letters by scholars and students from Moscow universities. While DOXA made a name for themselves in advocating for students, now they need our help.

As such, we are opening a fundraising to support the DOXA and its editors. All funds gathered will be transferred to DOXA. This fundraiser is the best option to support the journal without causing tensions with the Russian law*. The funds will be used in the first place to support Armen, Natalya, Vladimir, and Alla, as well as their families. All remaining money will be used as part of DOXA's continued endeavours to help prosecuted students.

Responsible for the campaign:

Jan Surman, researcher at MUA CAS and co-founder of project Antiuniversity (Moscow, https://doxajournal.ru/antiuniversity)

Anastasiya Podorozhnya, Jagiellonian University, Cracow

For further information, you can contact us at [email protected]

* Since 2012 direct transfers from abroad could cause mass media outlets being classified as "Foreign Agent". Since 2020, individuals are also able to be deemed "Foreign Agents."