At 1 pm on 26 June supporters of Khodorkovsky in Barnaul gathered by the memorial to the victims of political repression on Freedom Square.

They came to congratulate him on his 45th birthday, to raise a glass of champagne and, at a distance of many miles, wish him health, happiness and freedom.

“People often come here to commemorate the victims of Stalin. This time we have come because of political oppression in our own time,” said Konstantin Yemelin, a member of the Altai Region’s Public Chamber. “Khodorkovsky is a political prisoner, having demonstrated serious intentions as an opposition figure. That is why he became a political prisoner. If we keep silent these trials of political prisoners will be followed by mass repression,” Yemelin added, wishing that the outcast oligarch might soon regain his freedom.

Participants of Thursday’s protest plan to send Khodorkovsky a greetings card with good wishes and words of support — “ so he knows he is not forgotten,” as one woman at the event expressed it.