Edinburgh International Book Festival: Luke Harding

Luke Harding had been working as the Guardian’s Moscow correspondent for four years when Russia refused to renew his press credentials. Stopped at Moscow airport passport control he was put straight back on a plane to London and informed “For You, Russia Is Closed”. No longer allowed to enter the country Harding wrote a book detailing his experiences living in Russia under Putin, controversially titled Mafia State.

The surveillance Harding was subject to as a foreign correspondent sounds like the script of a cold war film. In addition to being followed he described how his flat was regularly broken into. Although nothing was taken, clues were deliberately left to show they had been there, alarm clocks went off at 4am, windows were left open, desktop backgrounds deleted. Harding speaks humorously of the incidents, and the audience laughed along as he described how he had to use “banana” as a code word for Boris Berezovsky on the phone and that a book of sex tips was left bedside his martial bed.

However, the hilarity ended abruptly when Harding explained the veiled threats behind the actions. The window left open was his young son’s bedroom window, open to a ten story drop, the message was clear, watch what you say or your son might fall. Harding's description of the Russian state made for bleak listening, explaining that Putin has built a big fake post modern state with sham political parties, fake elections and a fake parliament. He stated that it's become apparent to the educated Russian classes that Putin's vision is not a democratic one, and although the protests are the biggest since the fall of the Soviet Union Harding can't see his removal from office any time soon, protected as he is by the elite who benefit from his regime. Harding revealed that many Russians outside the capital are unaware of true events, brain washed by the propaganda of what he described as “zombie television”.

Russia also doesn’t have a free press, with subjects such the fortune of the elite in Moscow and the war in the North Caucasus still taboo topics. The punishments for exercising freedom of speech in Russia have recently hit the headlines after members of the girl band Pussy Riot have been sentenced to jail for performing a protest song against Putin in a cathedral. Harding wants to return to Moscow, and dreams of a day when the streets are named after those who have fought for human rights in Russia. Until then his book will go a long way to bringing home to Britain the level of corruption in Moscow today. As he ended by reminding us that Putin was allowed to attend the London Olympics to watch the Judo the audience were left questioning Britain’s stance on Russia’s human right violations.