Number of Russians Who View Khodorkovsky in a Positive Light Doubles Since Exile

The poll “Attitude of Russians to the Yukos case” conducted by Yuri Levada’s Research Center in November and December 2005, shows that the percentage of Russians who view Mikhail Khodorkovsky positively has doubled in the last 6 months to a quarter of the adult population. Older age groups with lower education levels view Khodorkovsky the most negatively. Relatively wealthy and more educated Russians and Muscovites view Khodorkovsky the most positively.

What feelings does Mikhail Khodorkovsky provoke in you? (by percentage of those polled)

	July	August	September	December
Positive	11	18	19	24
Neutral	60	38	38	41
Negative	22	30	31	22
Found difficulty in answer	7	14	12	13

Most Russians believe that the reasons for sending Khodorkovsky to a Krasnokamensk colony lie beyond legal bounds. 29% of those polled believe that Khodorkovsky was exiled in order to hamper his public activities; 17.4% believe that the authorities wanted to intimidate Khodorkovsky; 10.9% think the authorities wanted to impede his work with the lawyers; and 7.1% of the respondents believe that the authorities are attempting to destroy Khodorkovsky by sending him to the uranium mines.

Russians believe that the harsh verdict against Khodorkovsky was determined by the fact that “the authorities are afraid of him as a potential competitor in presidential elections” (13.8%) and that “greater numbers of Russian citizens share Khodorkovsky's ideas” (8.4%). The respondents also believe that Russia's imperfect laws are the real reason Khodorkovsky was slapped with back tax claims for past years (66.2%).

Nevertheless, the strict verdict and Krasnokamensk colony will not break Khodorkovsky. On the contrary they will strengthen his spirit and will – 44.2% of the respondents are confident about that. Those who participate in elections actively, voting for parties, tend to view Khodorkovsky as a hero to a greater extent than less politically active elements of the population. The share of respondents who think that the prison colony will “strengthen MBK’s spirit” among Communist party voters is 48%, “United Russia” – 49%, “Yabloko” – 54%, and “SPS” – 65%. Among supporters of “demagogical” parties – The Liberal Democratic Party and “Motherland” – this indicator is much lower than the average and stands at 37-38%. (Among those who have no political affiliation, only 33% believe the prison colony will “strengthen MBK’s spirit.”)

Almost 30% of the respondents believe that after Khodorkovsky is released he will play a significant part in public and political life. The share of Russians who are ready to vote for him for president amounted to 7.9% of those polled in November and 8.2% in December. Among wealthy Russians and Muscovites this figure rises to between 14 and 18%. Khodorkovsky’s candidature is most actively supported by entrepreneurs (16%), students (13%), and executives and office workers (12% each).

The public opinion poll was conducted by Yuri Levada’s Research Center on 11-14 November and 9-12 December 2005 in 128 cities and 46 regions of Russia. The sample: 1600 Russians over 18 years-old, in 128 cities in 46 regions of the country. The sample reflects the main socio-professional and socio-demographic characteristics of the adult population.