Wiesel ‘Pleads’ With Russian Government for Khodorkovsky's Freedom
Nobel Peace laureate Elie Wiesel has launched a global campaign to free Mikhail Khodorkovsky, whom he calls a "political prisoner." Radio Free Europe's Russian Service correspondent Elena Vlasenko spoke to Wiesel about the case and the state of human rights in Russia.
Wiesel said that he has been following Khodorkovsky's case for two or three years. Khodorkovsky's mother and son have both visited him, which Wiesel said moved him and his wife. He said: "How can one not be moved by a mother and a son who plead for some justice in their own land? And that's how we became involved."
He added: "I believe it's absolutely essential today for anyone who deals with human rights not to ignore or abandon people who are still in jail. And this man has been in jail for so long, and so I plead with the Russian government to free him. It's enough."
Wiesel said that the facts are clear. He said: "It's clear to anyone, really, who knows the situation in Russia that the reason for his arrest and condemnation has nothing to do with the law. It has to do with politics." He added that he believed that eventually US President Barack Obama and President Dmitry Medvedev will discuss human rights, despite the topic being omitted from Medvedev's recent visit.
Discussing the meeting he organized a few weeks ago in New York, Wiesel said; "It consists of mainly businessmen. I appealed to that community precisely, [saying] that they should use their influence with their counterparts in order to think about the release of Khodorkovsky and of course to help all those who are victims of the violation of human rights in Russia."