Valery Garbuzov
Date of the incident: September 1, 2023
Type of violation: Dismissal
Institution: Georgy Arbatov Institute for U.S. and Canada Studies Russian Academy of Sciences (RAN)
Summary: Russian historian and political scientist Valery Garbuzov confirmed to TASS on September 2 that he was dismissed from his post as director of the Institute for U.S. and Canada of RAN, at the initiative of the founder:” Yes, yesterday an order was signed to terminate my contract. The reason as such is not stated there, there is such an article of the employment contract — at the initiative of the founder, that’s how it is formulated.”
Details: Experts and commentators had no doubt that Valery Garbuzov would be fired after the historian and political scientist published an article in “Nezavisimaya Gazeta” on August 28 criticizing the Russian government. In the article, Garbuzov actually accuses the Russian authorities and the pro-government media of forming a new mythological thinking, writing, “The current domestic kleurets of authoritarianism…, completely devoid of historical consciousness, unashamedly, with a touching appeasement, sincerely identify the head of state with the state itself, the temporary ruler of the country — with a great national and historical constant.”
On September 5, 2023, Radio Liberty reported that a statement by the staff of the Institute for U.S. and Canada expressing outrage over the dismissal of Valery Garbuzov was on the “Nezavisimaya Gazeta” website for about an hour before it was removed. But it remained in Google’s cache. Valery Garbuzov responded to the criticism of his article. His response is posted on the “Nezavisimaya Gazeta” website. Russian Americanist Ivan Kurilla expressed his opinion about the Collective’s statement and Garbuzov’s response in his FB.
As of 4:00 p.m. on September 5, 2023, Valery Garbuzov’s article is still available on site of “Nezavisimaya Gazeta”.
On September 6, 2023, the Telegram channel Agency.Novosti quotes staff of the Institute for U.S. and Canada denying that they signed the statement: “We did not accept any collection letters, I can say that with certainty,” said Viktor Supyan, deputy director the Institute for U.S. and Canada. — “There was no vote, no signatures, nothing of the sort.” Vladimir Batiuk, a senior scientist at the institute, added that a meeting of the institute’s senior staff had been held the day before the publication, at which no such statement had been accepted. “I readily admit that Mr. Garbuzov has sympathizers at Institute for U.S. and Canada who share his point of view. But this is not the point of view of the Institute’s staff, it is the point of view of individuals, nothing more.”
Source: TASS, “Nezavisimaya Gazeta”
1.09.2023