Second Khodorkovsky readings taken place in Moscow.

The conference ‘Russian alternatives’ took place in Moscow today (The Second Khodorkovsky readings). Three significant discussion were included in the program: ‘Political institutions in Russia: transformation, restoration or imitation’, The Mythology of today’s Russian Capitalism’ and ‘Interests, values and moral in Russian politics’.

We will focus on two aspects of the conference: The first aspect is the appeal sent by Mikhail Khodorkovsky to the conference’s participants, quoted read below. The second aspect is the chairman of the international society ‘Memorial’, Arseny Roginsky, who opened the conference by talking about the return of solidarity hunger strikes in Russian reality.

Arseny Roginsky: ’You know that Mikhail Borisovich has declared a hunger strike and demands immediate medical care for his friend, also in prison. This is a solidarity hunger strike. It is for other people, not for himself. It seems that the hunger strike is something of a tradition in Russian prisons. It was revived in the late 60’s and continued to exist until the mid-80’s… It’s hard to forget about these hunger strikes. Anatoly Marchenko was on a hunger strike from August until the end of November in 1986 for the release of all political prisoners. Marchenko died less than two weeks after the end of his hunger strike and – this is an astonishing story – a few days later began the release of these prisoners. It’s impossible to say to what extent one event inevitably leads to another but one hunger strike was followed by others. Today, it seems we are seeing a return to the tradition of solidarity hunger strike. But the current hunger strike is unusual.
He doesn’t have any cell-mates. He didn’t declare his hunger strike from a cell sitting across from his cell-mates or from a camp where he would have been surrounded by fellow supporters. The hunger strike isn’t taking place in a political zone. He’s there on his own and the man for who he is striking is 6000 kilometres away. This lone hunger strike, happening away from everyone, demands a certain determination and a lot of courage.

We hope, as one does in the case just mentioned, that the hunger strike will win. We must not hope otherwise! And we hope that Aleksanyan will be given support and that things will turn out the way Khodorkovsky would have wanted. And we hope that Khodorkovsky will be able to recover from the hunger strike without any serious health consequences. It’s also important to remember the 9 people in freedom, who hunger striking in various cities in support of Khodorkovsky’s hunger strike. And their number is likely to increase.

In recent days we have been tormented, we have argued amongst ourselves whether or not it is appropriate in this situation to have this conference whilst one person in prison is starving and the other is dying. This was a serious issue for us. But then we realised that it would be a mistake to re-schedule because the gathered intellectual forces could be a major factor in the restoration of social and human relations on the basis of a common understanding of values. A restoration of the solidarity that is constantly being destroyed from above but which inevitably returns from below. Moreover, Khodorkovsky was the one who wrote and spoke about the necessity of focusing our efforts on precisely this. You have Khodorkovsky’s letter in your hands. We received it when the hunger strike had already begun, but it was written perhaps a day or two before it started. The letter makes it clear that he had already realised the inevitability of it, yet he wanted us to gather here today to get on with the work we had planned. So let’s work…’


M.B. Khodorkovsky’s address to the ’Russian alternatives’ conference (Second Khodorkovsky readings)

Dear Friends,

Thank you for finding it worthwhile to discuss the issue of moral values in contemporary Russian society.

I believe that the social values are what predetermine the success or failure of any form of transformation – whether long term or short term – whereas the moral values are, to a large extent, shaped and defined by an elite; the intellectual and political elite.

This has, in my opinion, always been the case for Russia, and still is now, when faced with significant development in society.

Today a vector for the country’s development over the next 8 years is being formed and the question of how we will live in our country in the near future will effectively be decided.

Some well-respected people think that everything already has been determined without you, that nothing will change and that what awaits our country is further oppression of freedom and, as a result, stagnation.
I believe these thoughts are true only as self-fulfilling prophesy.

The authorities will warrant such expectations as even the most hardened of bureaucrats loose heart sensing the indifference or even contemptuous coldness of the intellectual elite – the most educated and engaged part of society. The movement towards a genuine democracy is a movement against the flow and against the interest of a number of influential bureaucratic figures.

Shared moral values are the only basis of this alliance. The divide between those who strive to build a strong nation on having a strong government and a strong society combined and those for who the state apparatus is a possible means to obtain personal control over citizens, economy and the land in general should take place here. I believe it would be wrong to talk about the objectives of either party. Even bandits and invaders often have noble objectives behind their actions, which, admittedly, they rarely reach.

There must be a discussion about methods and values. The morality of the methods defines the morality of the real objectives and vice versa. Immoral methods usually not help to achieve the declared purpose.

A strong State founded on methods that suppress civil society is not so different from an occupational regime. The rejection of justice in the name of expediency destroys the desired stability and so on. I also believe that the wish to continually accumulate power or wealth is a rare mental defect.

The vast majority of our fellow citizens are normal people, regardless of where they work. They want to be free and happy and they want the same for their children. Whether a rich lackey or a cruel occupant of his own country, few would want this to be the fate of their beloved children.

Propaganda is capable of forcing the majority of people not to think for some time about the actual consequences of scavenging from society of both the power of mankind’s shared values and moral norms.

However, the elite can and must stop this process and turn it around. It lies in our mutual interest and our mutual responsibility towards ourselves, our children and our country.

I believe now is the time. I wish you success.