December 20, 2010
Just before the initially announced date of the reading of the verdict in the second trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, his son Pavel Khodorkovsky, president of the Institute of Modern Russia, was interviewed by BBC Russian Service.
Pavel Khodorkovsky at BBC office, New York. Photo by BBC.
Here are some extracts from his interview:
BBC: A year ago on your father’s birthday you said that you believed he would be acquitted. On December 15 (correction: on the day before the verdict was postponed to December, 27), the verdict of the case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev is going to be announced. Do you still hope for the acquittal?
Pavel Khodorkovsky: Absolutely. I hope and I want to believe that the case will be resolved positively. There are still many options that can bring it to a good ending.
BBC: What kind of options?
P.K.: Ways how the verdict is going to be announced. Lets leave out the “not guilty”. Judging by the course of the process, we have to be realistic, it’s not likely to happen. But there’s still an option that the case will be returned to the prosecution in the absence of evidence. I really hope it might happen. Secondly, then there’s a chance to apply for release on parole. And thirdly, the return of the case to the prosecution will be a winning step for many because during the process it was obvious that prosecution put a lot of pressure on the judge .
BBC: You were talking about “building a civil society [in Russia]”, how do you intend to do it?
P.K.: Building a civil society means that we demonstrate how democracy has to function. What is happening in Russia now is an empty shell, there’s no content inside. There’s no independent judiciary, no real freedom of assembly, everything is just a showcase. Our goal is to tell people how it should actually function. And that’s what we’ll do when my father is released.
Please watch the video interview or read the full text (in Russian) here
