On 26 June, in Moscow’s Novopushkinsky Square, on his forty-fifth birthday Mikhail Khodorkovsky was wished many happy returns by representatives of the Committee for Antimilitary Actions, the For Human Rights movement, Defence, the Moscow branch of the Union of Right Forces party, some other organisations and sympathetic members of the public.

Anyone who wished to could offer Mikhail Khodorkovsky many happy returns and words of support, which the organisers of the protest filmed on video camera. They intend to hand the compact disc with these recordings to the ex-leader of Yukos’ loved ones.

Supporters of Mikhail Khodorkovsky also gave passers by greetings cards and the address of the Chita pretrial detention centre where he is being held, inviting them to wish him a happy birthday, and offering them kvass.

Many of the gatherers held balloons and flowers and wore badges with the portrait of the prisoner and the slogan: “Free Khodorkovsky! Free Russia!”

The protest continued for around forty minutes, after which its participants headed off to the Central Telegraph Office to post Mikhail Khodorkovsky a telegram of greeting.


(Vera Vasilieva, hro.org)