Deutsche Welle: What are the chances of a favourable outcome concerning the pardoning of Khodorkovsky?

Karinna Moskalenko: Pardoning is a humanitarian issue. The legal issue here is the necessity of his immediate release from custody on parole, because if Russian law makes provision for this, then what reason is there for not applying it to Khodorkovsky? Selectivity again?

As concerns the pardoning, it can only be done by the head of state. If he does it, I’ll be very pleased – because now more than anything I want to save this person. Even saving him physically – because for more than four and a half years, of course, he has suffered a great deal physically.

I am not at liberty to talk about these problems, but prison does no good to anyone’s health. I entirely support even the idea of pardoning. It is another question that this issue cannot be looked at in isolation from the issue of Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s ‘second charge’ created by the authorities. In reality it is the same charge, but there is in evidence a wish simply to continue detaining him in isolation from society.

Who needs this and why? I think that plenty has already been said about this. In any case at present a certain stage of the proceedings is in train – familiarisation with the case materials. And this stage needs to be brought to a conclusion, for example by transferring the case to court. Or by closing the case at this stage. Are the authorities willing to drop the second criminal prosecution? I am not sure they are. And if they do, then will the question of pardoning the first charges have such importance?

I have no answers to these questions, in any case it is not a lawyer’s job to guess and speculate. I can talk only about matters which are subject to rule of law. And according to rule of law, after 25 October 2007 Mr Khodorkovsky became eligible for parole.

“Karinna Akopovna, what can you tell us about the situation in Chita?”

“Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s mother Marina Filippovna travelled expressly for the possibility that she might be allowed a visit to her son on this day. The courage of this woman never ceases to amaze me. Today I spoke with her at three in the morning our time, 1 pm Chita time, congratulated her on her son’s birthday, wished her luck in visiting the pretrial detention centre. She looks forward to these meetings enormously, each time she covers thousands of kilometres to see her son, especially on the occasion of his birthday. And she will worry very much.

“What can you wish for someone celebrating his forty-fifth birthday in detention?”

“You can offer him the following words. He has born through his character, his spirituality for more than four years of detention, grown morally in prison. I don’t know whether it is appropriate to say that these years have not been in vain, and have been good for him, because of course I think he would have done more good in freedom.


(Deutsche Welle, 26.06.2008)