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Khodorkovsky Gave First Interview in 5 Years
The Financial Times has released the interview with Yukos former CEO, jailed oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky. It was the first face-to-face talk of Khodorkovsky and a journalist from 2003, when the oligarch was arrested on fraud charges.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky spoke to The Financial Times in the courtroom in Siberian Chita February 3, during the 40-minute break in the hearing related to new fraud charges.
In the interview, Khodorkovsky doubted that Putin’s chosen successor Dmitry Medvedev would be able to reverse the process when the law was used to chase political enemies. “It will be so difficult for him, I can’t even imagine . . . Tradition, and the state of people’s minds, and the lack of forces able to [support] any movement towards the rule of law, everything’s against him. So . . . may God grant him the strength to do it. All we can do is hope,” The Financial Times quoted Khodorkovsky as saying.
In Russia, the situation with the rule of law is even worse than in China, Khodorkovsky said. “Laws can be better and they can be worse. But people must abide by laws, and not use them for their own ends.”
Of interest is that Khodorkovsky doesn’t share the pessimism of some Russia’s and foreign policymakers, claiming the democratic freedom is further eroded in Russia. “People can leave freely, the Internet works,” the former oligarch said.
“I’m convinced that Russia is a European country, it’s a country with democratic traditions which more than once have been broken off during its history, but nonetheless there are traditions,” Khodorkovsky emphasized.
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