To: United States Attorney General, Merrick Garland To: Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Argentine Republic, Santiago Cafiero
We appeal to you to support our petition aimed at protecting Z-Library – one of the largest resources in the world providing free access to unique books and scientific articles in many different languages. However, despite its significant contribution to global education and culture, this platform is now under threat of closure, as the FBI has blocked the site and many of its associated domains. In addition, two alleged participants in the project, Anton Napolskiy and Valeria Ermakova, were arrested in Argentina at the request of the United States and have been imprisoned for almost a year. Their detention occurred without compliance with legal norms and with numerous procedural violations, and the FBI request contained knowingly false data on the existence of a court sanction for arrest (a court sanction for arrest has been issued after the arrest).
In the era of information technology, blocking access to knowledge undermines the basic principles of freedom of information, as guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This not only deprives scientists and students of access to important research materials, but also threatens the freedom of academic exchange of ideas. Without a doubt, blocking Z-Library seriously hinders academic activity and impedes scientific development.
Moreover, the actions taken not only limit access to educational resources, but also violate the principles of digital sovereignty. In particular, the United States has blocked domains in country zones such as India without the permission of these states. Such an action undermines the principle of independence and sovereignty of these countries on the Internet and calls into question the right of states to regulate their own information spaces.
Restoring access to Z-Library is not just a matter of access to a library resource. It is a matter of ensuring freedom of information, affirming state sovereignty, and protecting the right of every person to knowledge. We believe that access to information is a fundamental right of every person, and we call on you to join our fight. Z-Library contains many unique books and documents that may become inaccessible to the public. This would be a serious blow to the cultural and scientific heritage of humankind.
Undoubtedly, it is important to respect copyright and intellectual property law. In the case of possible copyright violations, we insist that such cases should be considered separately, rather than resulting in restricting access to the entire resource and thus violating users’ rights to access the rest of the unique collection. The criminal prosecution of project participants who ensure the operation of the platform but are not involved in uploading files is unfair and unacceptable.
We call for the restoration of Z-Library and for a fair solution that takes into account both the rights of authors and the need for people to have free access to educational resources. We also demand an end to interference in the digital sovereignty of other countries. In this regard, we ask you to support our demand by signing this petition and helping to spread the message.
Free access to information and knowledge is a basic human right, and we must fight to preserve it.
