Garry Kasparov: “I believe that many of the problems we face today are the result of the fact that we were not prepared to deal with state security in 1991. It’s clear that in liquidating the imperial institutions we should also understand that the KGB in all its guises and names is a criminal formation which belongs on the dustbin of history. But first it is necessary to deal with the rottenness that lurks behind the walls of the Lubyanka. In my view, the opening of archives should be carried out without fail – we cannot go into the future without sorting out our past. In doing so we should find out how deeply the tentacles of the Chekist octopus have penetrated into Russian society and beyond, and do a disservice to many democracies around the world. However, I have no doubt that even in the “beautiful Russia of the future” there will be proposals to bury these black pages of history as nuclear waste. In my opinion, we need to get rid of our past, not to mention the demolition of the mausoleum and de-communization, so that its iconic vestiges will fade into oblivion. 1991 is a vivid reminder of what happens to a young, unstable democracy if the tentacles of the KGB octopus are not cut off”.
