• 2 months ago

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Transcript
00:00It was a long-awaited reunion for the freed American prisoners and their loved ones.
00:05But for the families of those still being held in Russian prisons, it's also a huge disappointment.
00:10American Mark Fogle was not part of the exchange on the 1st of August.
00:15It's bittersweet that they left Mark behind.
00:19That's what happened and they preferred other people over him.
00:29Prominent opposition figure and British national Wladimir Karamurza was among the 16 prisoners released.
00:35He says the world must not forget those who remain in detention.
00:39This is just a drop in the ocean because so many innocent people
00:45who've never committed a crime in their life are being held in torturous conditions
00:51either physically or psychologically or both
00:54in Putin's prisons for the only crime of speaking the truth.
00:59An estimated 1,300 people are currently believed to be imprisoned in Russia on political grounds.
01:05Vladimir Putin's political opponent Ilya Yashin, who was also released in the recent exchange,
01:10warns of the risk of a carte blanche granted to the Russian president to kidnap Western nationals
01:15with a motive to exchange them for criminals.
01:19This is a difficult dilemma because, of course, it encourages Putin to take new hostages.
01:26It motivates him to increase the number of political prisoners.
01:30The question of consent to this type of release is also a touchy one.
01:35Ilya Yashin and Vladimir Karamurza had refused to be part of future prisoner exchanges.
01:40For them, their fight only makes sense if it's waged in their home country, in Russia.

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