Re: Dmitry Bogatov arrested in Moscow

[Ian Jackson <ijackson@chiark.greenend.org.uk>]

Mehdi Dogguy writes ("Re: Dmitry Bogatov arrested in Moscow"):
> On 12/04/2017 12:53, martin f krafft wrote:
> > While I personally would like to believe that Dimitri is the good
> > guy and the Russian officials the villains, I have no first-hand
> > information to back this up, and I don't think the project does
> > either.

Although we do not have direct evidence on this point, the prior
probabilities suggest that it is highly likely that this is some kind
of stitch-up.  It seems likely that Dmitry's alignment with the values
of (most) Debian contributors have been a contributing factor.
Accordingly, we should proceed on the basis that Dmitry is innocent
and that supporting him would be supporting our values.

> His arrest is not linked to his Debian activities (or at least, does not
> look like it) and we are not tooled to help him in such complex cases. Paying
> a random lawyer is not going to help him, by looking at how the case started.
> Plus, we do not have accurate information for now. There are other projects
> which are used to help activists around the world (especially for political
> trials). I am thinking about EFF and Amnesty International for example, but
> maybe there are better suited organizations for this case. If specialized
> organizations are unable to help him, I fear Debian on its own will not be
> more useful to him.

I find this a very disappointing attitude.

We definitely have exposure, if we choose to do or say anything
publicly.  We have, perhaps, some influence somewhere.  We have money,
(although of course we might have to ask a laywer of our own if we are
allowed by charity rules to use it for legal defence of a project
contributor under these kind of circumstances).

Whether any of that would help Dmitry is an open question.  But as a
project we should definitely be prepared to do so.

The resources I describe above are, effectively, mainly controlled by
the DPL.  Individual action by DDs does trade on Debian's assets
(including our reputation), but not nearly as effectively.

Ian.

-- 
Ian Jackson <ijackson@chiark.greenend.org.uk>   These opinions are my own.

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