Statement of the 'Sovest' group in defense
of Mikhail Khodorkovsky
We are addressing
all people for whom the notions of 'justice'
and 'fair trial' still
retain their primary meaning and have not become the object of
political gambling, to all people who want to live in a democratic
Russia, a country based on the rule of law, with a developed market
economy.
Today, we are
witnessing a wide-scale operation staged by
Russian law-enforcement agencies and the Prosecutor General’s Office
and clearly aimed at the destruction of Russia’s largest private
company that has had every opportunity of becoming the fourth major
oil company in the world. The attempt to ruin YUKOS will definitely
throw Russia far back both in economic and political terms.
Notwithstanding
the allegations of those behind the attack against YUKOS that they
are investigating the past acts of 'Khodorkovsky’s
organized group', the scale of the
persecutions goes far beyond the charges brought against the company
and its shareholders. In this
well-orchestrated campaign, various government bodies and
law-enforcement agencies, from the Prosecutor General’s Office and
the Department of Justice to the Department of Tax and Inland
Revenue and the Department of Natural Resources, are acting in
perfect unity and in accord with each other. It is absolutely
impossible to believe that all these organizations brought charges
against YUKOS at the same moment by pure
coincidence.
The persecutions
against the company’s managers and shareholders are accompanied by
propaganda campaign in certain media on the idea of
'expropriating the oligarchs from their possessions',
in other words, the redistribution of private property, which
certainly contributes to kindling social conflicts. We view it as
extremely dangerous that certain representatives of official
authorities and various political associations are trying to provoke
and intensify such trends within the public opinion.
Brutal force and
pressure, threats and blackmail are the methods used against Mikhail
Khodorkovsky and other managers of the company. The country as a
whole and Russian civil society are still lacking objective and full
information about what is going on in the Khodorkovsky trial. If for
so many years he has been effectively violating law, evading taxes,
etc., as the authorities allege, why are they so frightened of an
open court hearing? Why was a court hearing in Basmanny
District Court scheduled for Monday 22 December only
announced on the Friday evening before – virtually at the last
moment, depriving Khodorkovsky’s lawyers of any reasonable
opportunity to adequately prepare for it?
The recourse to
such methods leaves no doubt that the Prosecutor General’s Office
does not possess proper evidence to prove the culpability of the
YUKOS former head. We are convinced of the
political motivations behind the Khodorkovsky trial. We can assert
with all certainty that the formal charges brought against
Khodorkovsky result from the intention of the powers that be to
exercise rough justice against the independent businessman who
refused to bend to the Kremlin’s orders like so many of his
counterparts. In our opinion, Khodorkovsky’s trial with all the
attending circumstances strongly discredits Russian President
Vladimir Putin, undermines the democratic institutions of Russia and
the very idea of democracy.
We call for an
open and adversary trial of Khodorkovsky’s case and the cases
brought against other YUKOS employees, in the presence of the media
and representatives of the general public. Only an open jury trial
will help restore public trust in the official authorities.
Otherwise, the latter will create a dangerous precedent of selective
use of law with respect to citizens unwelcome to them or
opposition-minded.
We want Russia to
be a country where everyone is protected by law, but the brutal
force methods used in the Khodorkovsky case have weakened this hope.
For this reason, we are addressing all people who value freedom and
democracy and want to see that human rights are respected in Russia.
Think hard about what is going on; try to understand that the latest
developments around YUKOS are closely affecting all of us. Try to
find a way to express your protest against the violations of law and
the authorities’ disregard of the rights of Mikhail Khodorkovsky,
and, consequently, of the rights of all Russian citizens.
dated Dec. 12, 2003
