It could be that he and his advisors know his situation better than I do.
All I'm saying is that, if it were me, I'd leave. I'd travel to a country that had said it's friendly to me, even if it hadn't offered me asylum. I'd risk being arrested and brought to the United States. I would know that I wouldn't die in U.S. custody.
Even if he is arrested, even if he is jailed while awaiting trial, even if the trial proceeds and even if he is convicted and starts a prison sentence, the years and his activism since 2013 have gained him international and institutional support. That support system can't help him if he's dead, and it will be much less able to help him if he's in a Russian jail than an American jail.
My years of having to start over and over have helped me to know that the ability to leave every material thing that you have, for the sake of your safety, is crucial to survival.
Copyright L. Kochman, June 28, 2016 @ 7:44 p.m.
