Inside Russia

The murdered investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya. Soviet dissidents and Russian activists Lev Ponomarev and Liudmila Alekseeva. Chess champion Garry Kasparov. The list of prominent and respected Russian supporters for Khodorkovsky and Lebedev goes on and on.

Beginning with the resignation of Vladimir Putin’s own chief of staff, Alexander Voloshin, over Khodorkovsky’s arrest, and the parliamentarians who said they would vouch for Khodorkovsky in order to secure his release on bail during the pre-trial period, the YUKOS case sparked an uproar among many Russians who saw their country headed down the wrong path. Indeed, it was the Kremlin’s own economic advisor, Andrei Illarionov, who denounced the sale of YUKOS’s jewel asset as the “scam of the year.”

At times, thousands came to protest the incarceration of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev. Protesters were usually met with stiff and disproportionate police response, including arresting leaders and dispersing supporters. And a July 2009 Levada Center opinion poll found that nearly half of respondents object to the prosecution's presentation of evidence in the Khodorkovsky-Lebedev trial. The poll shows that Russians have become less encouraging of the efforts of the prosecution to drag the trial out and also believe the defense teams have not had a fair chance to argue their case.

Key findings of the July 2009 poll:

  • 60% of 1600 respondents believe that the fate of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev is being decided by the Kremlin and not in the courts. Of the 60%, three-quarters condemn it.
  • 57% of the respondents believe Mikhail Khodorkovsky would do more good for Russia if he was released from jail.
  • 56% do not understand what the businessmen have been accused of.

In March 2010, the Levada Center again polled Russians' opinions of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev finding:

  • 63% continue to believe that the bankruptcy of YUKOS and sale of its assets benefitted a group of businessmen closely linked to the regime and highly-placed State and government officials
  • 25% would free Khodorkovsky and Lebedev if the decision lay with them
  • 41% believe authorities are putting pressure on the court in their trial
  • 7% believe that ordinary people in Russia have benefitted from the arrest of the YUKOS executives

It is also true that many in Russia saw a form of vindication in Khodorkovsky’s arrest and sentencing, as if his suffering could atone for the loss felt at the end of the Soviet Union or the anger over the oligarchs who acquired enormous wealth and fled Russia. But there are also those who were imprisoned for criticizing the Soviet Union, those who denounced the end of independent media and viable opposition parties in Russia and those who believe Russia must first end rampant corruption in government and business before it can prosper. These are the people who write to Khodorkovsky in prison and tell him not to give up, who praise him for maintaining his dignity, and urge him to continue expressing his thoughts.

Public hearings have been held in Moscow on the Khodorkovsky case:

 Meanwhile, Russia's artistic community has also demonstrated their support for Khodorkovsky and Lebedev. Since the start of the second trial, two exhibits have been organized to display different works inspired by the courtroom's events. The Drawing the Court exhibit, which displayed submissions from artists across Russia expressing their interpretation of the trial, has been displayed in Moscow, Brussels and Paris to date. Additionally, a series of cartoons posted weekly on Yezhednevny Zhurnal's website was put on display in an industrial Moscow gallery in early 2010.   

Many prominent figures in Russia have spoken out in support of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev:

See further statements from Russian academic and business leaders >>

See statements by President Dmitry Medvedev and Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov >>

See additional statements of support for Khodorkovsky and Lebedev >>