The well-known human rights activist Lev Ponomarev ismember of the political council of Solidarity. In the past, he was a deputy to the State Duma of the first convocation. The politician holds a doctorate in physics and mathematics.
Lev Ponomarev was born in Tomsk in 1941.To study in high school the young man went to the capital. In Moscow, he received a diploma from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and graduated from the graduate school there. Before becoming a famous public figure, Ponomarev during the years of Soviet stagnation worked for a long time in the scientific field. In particular, he was a member of the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics.
In the Brezhnev era, Lev Ponomarev joined thedissident movement. He worked with the Moscow Helsinki Group, helped its members and the first chairman, Yuri Orlov. In 1988, Lev Ponomarev became one of the founders of the Memorial Society. This movement was organized to perpetuate the memory of the victims of Soviet repression (especially in the Stalin period).
In the late 80s fame came to Ponomarev.In 1989, he was a confidant of Andrei Sakharov at the first democratic elections of people's deputies of the Soviet Union. At this time, new movements and parties appeared throughout the country. Leo Ponomarev could not stay away from this process. In 1990, a human rights activist was one of several founders of Democratic Russia. It was a political movement that united all parties in the country that were opposed to the CPSU. An important step of “Democratic Russia” was the support of Boris Yeltsin at the time when he was running for president for the first time.
Then, in 1990, regular elections were held.Deputies of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR. Thanks to his reputation, he received a mandate and Ponomarev Lev Alexandrovich. The human rights activist was the initiator of the creation of a parliamentary commission investigating the activities of the KGB and the State Committee for the State Security in the days of the August putsch.
During the confrontation of the president and parliamentthe politician organized Yeltsin’s meetings with democratic parties several times. Then the head of state assured that he would not disperse the deputies entrenched in the White House. Time has shown that events are different.
Once in the State Duma of Russia in 1994,Ponomarev became the leader of the Democratic Russia party (the name is the same as that of the first politician movement, but these are different organizations). Galina Starovoitova became the main colleague and associate of the human rights activist at the new location. Initially, their bloc in the Duma supported the president, but after the federal troops entered Chechnya, deputies moved away from Yeltsin and his government.
Ponomarev was also the initiator of the creationseveral human rights organizations, including For Human Rights. It received complaints from people from all over the country. People who needed help could get through the hotline, which was new at the time. Such projects were supported and developed by Lev Ponomarev. “For Human Rights” is an organization that has done much to highlight events in Chechnya.
From the very beginning of the war in the Caucasus, the deputy spokeagainst the introduction of federal troops. When the second campaign began, Ponomarev organized several international conferences on violations of the law in the combat zone. After the parliamentary powers of a politician expired in 1996, he began to devote more time to holding rallies and other public actions aimed at expressing disagreement with government policies.
In 2006, the foundation “For the Protection of Rightsprisoners. " One of its founders was Lev Alexandrovich Ponomarev. The biography of this public figure is an example of a person who is behind the organization of many projects and movements.
Ponomarev’s human rights activities in relation toprisoners repeatedly led to conflicts with the federal penitentiary service. In 2007, the director of the Federal Penitentiary Service, Yuri Kalinin, sued the politician (a lawsuit on the protection of honor and dignity). The official said that Ponomarev’s public statements regarding the state of prisons in Russia were false. In turn, the human rights activist argued that Kalinin exceeds his own official authority.
Presnensky District Court of Moscow considered thisthe case and obliged Ponomarev to publicly refute his own words that the director of the FPS is “the author of the system” that torments people. The human rights activist admitted that his wording was inaccurate. Nevertheless, the activity of his foundation continues. It continues to receive information about violations of prisoners' rights.
В 2006 году Пономарева арестовали на трое суток because of his solitary picket in memory of the victims of the terrorist attack in Beslan. Then several international organizations recognized him as a prisoner of conscience. Two years later, he became the founder of Solidarity, an opposition movement whose members were engaged in holding rallies and other mass civil actions. During several such events, Ponomarev was arrested for three days for disobeying police officers.
In 2009, Ponomarev, not far from his homeunknown attacked. On this fact a criminal case was opened. Lev Ponomarev himself insisted that this incident was connected with his professional activities. The real name of the attackers has not been clarified.
The human rights activist is married, he has four children.In his free time, he enjoys painting. Currently continues to engage in human rights projects. In addition, Ponomarev remains one of the key figures in Memorial society.
