The Khodorkovsky and Lebedev Committee protested on Friday in Chita to mark the third anniversary of their conviction. Passers-by added their comments to the picket.

The picketers held a banner with the words “Free Khodorkovsky and Lebedev!” and handed out leaflets to passers-by, which described the moves towards a second trial and the ever more frequent conclusion of courts abroad that the Yukos affair was politically motivated. Many wanted to have the “Khodorkovsky, go home!” tee shirts offered by the organisers, and put them on straightaway.

The people of Chita were understanding and, on the whole, well-disposed towards the picket, said Marina Savateyeva of the Khodorkovsky and Lebedev Support Committee. Passers-by gave their opinions about the Yukos Affair and Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

“I changed my attitude to Khodorkovsky when I saw a report on local television about his wife coming to visit him [at the penal colony] in Krasnokamensk,” said one man. “When the journalist all rushed to talk to her at the rail station she said, ‘I haven’t the time,’ and began dragging enormous bags, suitcases and packages from the carriage onto the platform. She was bent double with the weight of her burden. He must be a fine man, to have such a wife.”

The police observed the protest from a distance and did not intervene.