Lena Gorban, the wife of the mathematician Azat Miftakhov’s, has requested that mathematicians post this message on Azat’s birthday, which is March 21. This is his sixth birthday in prison in Dimitrovgrad, near Ulianovsk in Russia. The message has already been posted on several French websites, including this one. For more information on his case please see this website.

Hello, this is Azat Miftakhov. For technical reasons, New Year’s Eve happened a week ago. I received many warm, touching letters and cute pictures. Reading them, I experienced many positive emotions. I would like to answer everyone, but return letters are very difficult for me. Just like public addresses, which I make extremely rarely. The thing is that I am too demanding of myself and I am afraid that my words are imperfect. I worried about my insurmountable perfectionism for a long time, until one day I accidentally learned about similar problems with writing texts from such a luminary of science as Lev Davidovich Landau. It even happened that his co-authors designed joint works for him. After that, I partly accepted this feature of mine. But only partly, because it still bothers me that you expect answers from me! And on my birthday, I found the strength in myself, and I want to express my gratitude to you.

Thank you for all the support I have received from you over the years. For your letters and wishes, for the events you have organized: from large rallies in support of political prisoners in different countries of the world to bold actions in totalitarian Russia (like, for example, the recent action at the Lomonosov monument in support of me and Dima Ivanov). I am glad that political activity does not fade away, despite the difficult times. What you do greatly helps political prisoners and their loved ones, but also demonstrates mass disagreement with the policies of the current regime. With your support and solidarity, the walls will come down!