N.P.: The main accused parties nevertheless were the YUKOS shareholders — Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev. The others in this story were seen as pawns, and, at first, many offered to cooperate with the investigation.

P.I.: And that is exactly why I fled. Because they started calling me in to the General Prosecutor’s Office for interrogations, saying: “You have to give us some kind of compromising testimony against Khodorkovsky, Lebedev, Brudno or Shakhnovsky.” They shouldn’t have been interrogating me in the capacity of a witness — this was already in direct violation of the criminal procedure code. When I complained that this was an outrage, they replied that it was okay, and that they were going to continue to violate the law: “And if you want to start showing off, then I’ll detain you right now.” This was all said to me openly on November 16, 2004. I did give some kind of testimony later that night. The investigator [Radmir] Khatypov let me go, apparently assuming that I might still be useful for getting the “necessary testimony.” Right after the interrogation, that very same evening, I got into a car, drove as far as Sheremetyevo, got on the last plane to Kiev and left.

N.P.: And what about your family?

P.I.: My family remained at home, in Moscow.  I didn’t say a word to anybody and just drove to the airport right after the interrogation. I phoned my wife when I’d gotten to Kiev and said: “Katya, I’m in the birthplace of my grandmother.” My family came to New York at the beginning of February 2005. Before that, I was shuffling all over Europe and we would talk on the phone or we’d get together once in a while. My wife didn’t sell anything — we still own an apartment in Moscow, to this day. Why should I sell my property? I don’t consider myself guilty. But the family’s departure itself was, of course, a big deal — for example, they detained my wife at Sheremetyevo, and there was a big scandal. But now they are all with me.

N.P.: How did it happen that after being a witness you became an accused?  After all, they didn’t make you sign a statement promising not to leave the country, which means you didn’t actually violate anything.

P.I.: No, there was neither a signed pledge, nor a prohibition. But a lawyer doesn’t need an explanation to figure out what’s going on. After the interrogation and direct pressure on the part of the investigator, I understood everything. After Kiev I went to Latvia, and here investigator Khatypov calls me on my Moscow cell phone and says: “Why don’t you drop by my office, we’ve come up with a whole bunch of questions for you.” These were the first days of December 2004, when they had already arrested Sveta Bakhmina. And I understood what was happening.

This took place a week before the Yuganskneftegaz auction, and they were simply clearing the field. Salavat Karimov, then the chief investigator in the YUKOS case, had а carte blanche to lock up anybody and everybody, which, in fact, is exactly what he was doing. That’s why I told investigator Khatypov right away that I had three children and I wasn’t going anywhere. To which he said to me, and I quote: “People might suffer.” And later I understood what did he mean by that.

N.P.: Did anyone offer to drop your case if you paid them?

P.I.: Yes, of course, some people did offer that. But this was mostly done by random officials who didn’t understand much — simply put, this is not the kind of case, which can be dismissed for a bribe.

N.P.: So who were the people who “suffered” in the end?

P.I.: I then said: “I’m not going to show up.” On the other end of the line, they said: “Okay.” And several days later they arrested Lena Agranovskaya, the managing partner in our law office. She sat in jail for 10 days. Meanwhile, I was free in Europe, observing all of this. The first charge against me was lodged at the end of December, that is, a month after my departure. At that moment, it became clear that it was a good idea for me to stay away from Russia.

N.P.: Did a trial ever take place?

P.I.: So far I have not been convicted, but I don’t rule out that an in absentia trial against me might begin soon. I’ve heard that they are supposedly planning on trying everyone in my situation — everyone who’s on the run. I saw some documents recently, stating that the cases of all those involved in the Khodorkovsky case are going to be passed on to the courts, to be tried in absentia this coming fall.

N.P.: What was your title in the YUKOS company?

P.I.: Officially I had none. I was one of the partners in a law office. YUKOS was a client of ours from 1996 onwards: we offered them support on a number of issues, including legal counseling, assistance with courts, signing of documents, and managing their bank accounts through the power of attorney. Before that I worked for the Menatep group in a different office. I met Khodorkovsky in 1994.

N.P.: So, in essence, they just tacked you on to the main criminal case because you were YUKOS’ lawyer?

P.I.: Yes, except for a small detail: I wasn’t a key player. By that time, Khodorkovsky had already been sitting in jail for a year and he had completely different charges. But the team for the YUKOS case continued working. And so in the summer of 2004, when Lebedev had already served a year in prison,and Khodorkovsky served 9 months, the accusers and people behind them came up with a new invention, stating that “YUKOS’ partners had stolen the oil and then laundered it.” The prosecution believes that all the oil that had been produced by YUKOS and its subsidiaries from 1998 through 2003 was stolen by Khodorkovsky, Lebedev, and Nevzlin, etc. What a charge, don’t you think? There’s no point in asking me why — you should ask Karimov about it.Effectively, this is what took place: On November 12, 2004, a mob of investigators, cops and secret operatives burst into our office in the center of Moscow, demanded that we hand over all our documents and tell them everything we knew about the Menatep group and YUKOS. The threat became absolutely real. Those people were going to shove soldering irons up our asses.